The crude oil price is at USD 90 per barrel for the US crude and the Brent is trading at USD 91.5 per bbl. This is the seventh weekly gain for the crude oil prices and has seen 26 percent of gains in the last seven weeks for the crude prices.

While the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies have increased production, much of that may not actually materialise because most of the OPEC members are producing less than the agreed quota in any case and the global demand has been on the stronger side.

The latest reason for the prices to run up is – one, there has been an oil supertanker exploding at Nigeria coast, which means a lot of oil spill and oil waste and second, Libya has halted exports from six ports due to weather.

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This is all happening in a market that is already tied, there are geopolitical tension and the likes of Goldman Sachs, IHS Markit, JPM already saying that the prices could be hitting USD 100 per barrel before the first half of this year ends and that keeps the markets on the stronger side.

Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18’s Manisha Gupta for more details.

First Published:Feb 4, 2022 8:23 AM IST