According to Thursday's trading data, world oil prices continue to rise. The current Brent oil quote is $84.55 per barrel, North American WTI oil is trading near $80.90 per barrel. A number of factors contribute to the rise in oil prices. Firstly, today Saudi Arabia announced the extension of an additional reduction in oil production by 1 million barrels per day until the end of September. The Saudis also noted that in the future this reduction may be extended or even increased. The actual production of the kingdom will be approximately 9 million barrels per day in September. In addition, investors reacted to the published macro statistics from the United States. The number of initial applications for unemployment benefits in the country for the week ended July 29 increased by 6 thousand compared to the previous week – up to 227 thousand. The current data coincided with analysts' forecasts. Also, traders continue to win back yesterday's data from the US Department of Energy on crude oil reserves in the country. The report showed that US commercial oil reserves (all reserves except the strategic reserve) decreased by 17 million barrels to 439.8 million barrels. Such a rate of decline in stocks for a week was a record in the history of calculations since 1982. All these factors together support a positive mood in the oil markets and contribute to further growth in oil prices.
