Oil closes lower for second session

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices declined today, March 5, with markets evaluating the Chinese government’s plans to support the recovery of the second largest economy in the world. The OPEC+ decision to extend the reduction of 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of June also affected the price movement, along with the increase in US crude supplies.

Brent crude futures for May delivery fell 0.9%, or 76 cents, to close at $82.04 a barrel, after declining earlier to $81.73.

WTI crude for April delivery fell by 0.75%, or 59 cents, to $78.15 a barrel, after touching $77.52 during trading.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang explained in the annual report that China's official growth target for 2024 is about 5%, as the country struggles to deal with the real estate crisis.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the OPEC+ countries do not intend to “inflate” oil prices, but rather aim to achieve stability and balance within the energy market, TASS reported.

The American Petroleum Institute's report on oil inventories is expected to be issued later today, and the US Energy Information Administration is scheduled to issue official data on inventories on March 6, amid expectations that crude inventories will rise by 2.4 million barrels.