Oil Prices Rise Despite Reserves Sale Plan

US benchmark oil prices reverse earlier declines and rise 0.3% to $76.97 a barrel despite an early-morning announcement from the Biden administration that the US and other countries will sell some crude reserves to boost global supplies and bring down fuel prices. WTI crude has already fallen 9% from a seven-year-high of $84.65 reached Oct. 26. “This type of intervention is usually not long lasting and was anticipated by the market,” says Spartan Capital’s Peter Cardillo. “This news is likely to stabilize prices but remain subject to rising covid cases that could lessen demand. In other words, we may have seen the worst of the oil price decline for now.”