Benchmark oil prices rose early Wednesday after falling the previous day as traders weighed market forecasts and US inventory data, Report informs via Interfax.

The May futures price for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange was $82.41 per barrel. This is $0.49 (0.6%) higher than the close of the previous session.

On Tuesday, these contracts fell in price by $0.29 (0.4%) to $81.92 per barrel.

Prices of WTI oil futures for April in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) increased by $0.49 (0.63%) and amounted to $78.05 per barrel.

At the end of the last session, the contract fell by $0.37 (0.5%) to $77.56 per barrel.

OPEC yesterday maintained its forecast for increased oil demand this and next year at 2.2 million b/d and 1.8 million b/d, respectively.

In addition, data published on Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a decrease in reserves in the week ending March 8 by 5.521 million barrels. The US Department of Energy will release official statistics later today.

The day before, the ministry sharply increased its forecast for the price of Brent oil for both 2024 and 2025 due to the extension of production restrictions by OPEC+ countries. As follows from the agency's new Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, in 2024 the Brent price forecast was increased from 82.42 to 87 dollars per barrel, in 2025 - from 79.48 to 84.8 dollars per barrel.