Oil price continues to rise

On Friday, world oil prices are in the "green" zone against the backdrop of investor optimism in connection with the fall in the production of "black gold" in the US for the sixth week in a row, as evidenced by the statistics of the country's Ministry of Energy and Friday trading data.

As of Friday morning, the price of May futures for North Sea Brent crude oil rose by 0.57 percent to $ 37.28 per barrel. The price of April futures for WTI crude oil rose by 0.69 percent to $ 34.81 per barrel.

On Wednesday, the US Department of Energy released data on commercial oil reserves in the US (excluding the strategic reserve) for the week ended February 26. The indicator increased by 10.4 million barrels, or 2 percent, to 518 million barrels. Analysts expected growth to be only 3.604 million barrels to 511.204 million barrels.

At the same time, investors focused on the weekly indicator for the level of oil production in the United States, which is declining for the sixth week in a row by 25 thousand barrels per day, or 0.27 percent to 9.077 million barrels per day. This level is the lowest since November 2014, which may indicate a gradual decline in the "oil boom" in the United States.

In addition, the attention of traders is now focused on the monthly data on the US labor market, which is expected later on Friday. The indicators may become another clue for investors regarding the state of the American economy and the further actions of the US Federal Reserve regarding the base interest rate. According to analysts, the US unemployment rate in February remained at a record low of 4.9 percent, recorded in January. Therefore, good data on the labor market will increase the likelihood of the US Federal Reserve raising the level of rates in 2016, which, in turn, will support the growth of prices for "black gold".

At the same time, tighter lending conditions will make it difficult for US producers to refinance their debts, which could accelerate the decline in oil production in the country in 2016-2017. ”