Last week they have even increased to 37

Meeting tomorrow in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, more than 90 countries will focus on the volatility of oil prices, transparency of energy markets and the links between market physical and financial markets. This extraordinary ministerial meeting, which will be the Minister of energy Eric Besson, will mark the twentieth anniversary of the international energy Forum, the main forum for dialogue between producers and consumers. It should lead to the signing of a Charter to strengthen cooperation with each other and to reduce the instability of the oil market, a problem who joined the concerns of the French Presidency of the G20.

In this context, the difference in price between the oil in the United States and Europe will be no doubt in people's minds. Friday, a barrel of brent from the North Sea for delivery in April exchanged 102,50 dollars, down 7 cents, following the tightening of monetary policy in China and despite the tension in the Arab countries. The price of a barrel of "light sweet crude" for delivery in April amounted to 89,71 ( 87 cents) $. This gap of almost $ 13 is an anomaly. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the reference price for the American market, is traditionally higher than 2-3 $ brent.

What is this huge difference "The weakness of the WTI is linked to the increase in oil stocks gross in the United States and the terminal of Cushing, Oklahoma, the physical storage of the Nymex site particularly", said Mike Wittner, analyst at Société Générale oil in a note. At saturation, the Cushing terminal is no easy means of escape from its stocks. The construction of Keystone XL pipeline of large capability to redirect a volume of 510,000 barrels per day to the export, via the Mexico Gulf, is not expected before the second quarter of 2013.

Refineries located in the surrounding area constitute the only viable opportunity. With the crisis, fuel consumption has slowed in the United States and inventories are at their highest in Cushing. Last week, they have even increased to 37.7 million barrels. Moreover, a new pipeline came into service in early February, which increased deliveries of oil from the Canada of 156.000 barrels per day. In this context, "the abnormal differential between light crude and the brent may be sustained," judge Natixis. Other factors are also for an assessment of the North Sea oil. "The basis for the production of the brent is declining making it more sensitive to fluctuations in crude of similar quality as those provided by the Libya or the Algeria", says Harry Tchilinguirian, analyst at BNP Paribas oil. "In the future, the growth in demand comes from the Asia-Pacific region", adds Nomura. Or "WTI plays no role in this region", but remains largely confined to the US market. The brent instead is "more recognized as a reference in Asia Award". Two years ago, Saudi Arabia had decided to abandon any reference to the WTI for exports to the United States, holding the course of this too volatile light crude.