London (awp/afp) - Oil prices fell slightly on Thursday as investors opted for caution ahead of the Christmas long weekend after a few choppy sessions.

Around 11:30 GMT (12:30 CET), a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in February dropped 0.55% in London, to 50.92 dollars.

The American barrel of WTI for the month of February yielded 0.69% to 47.79 dollars.

After reaching their highest levels since the start of the pandemic on Friday, at 52.48 dollars for Brent and 49.28 dollars for WTI, prices have chained two sessions of marked decline and a rebound, a sign of uncertainty. of the market.

"At the moment the situation is not good, but investors are clinging to the idea that next year things will improve significantly," said Naeem Aslam, an analyst at AvaTrade, to explain the resistance in crude oil prices.

"Investors are liquidating their bets on the downside, it's too risky a position before a long weekend," said Sukrit Vijayakar, analyst at Trifecta.

The day before, prices had been supported by a sharper decline than expected in crude oil reserves in the United States.

Jeffrey Halley, an analyst at Oanda, warned, however, that the volatility seen in recent sessions could return due to reduced volumes by the holidays.

"Everything will depend on the situation in the United States in terms of supporting the economy, where anything can happen," he said.

President Donald Trump has threatened elected members of Congress not to sign the agreement on an economic recovery plan of some 900 billion dollars.

This plan, which includes checks to families in difficulty, could wake up the fuel and energy consumption of the world's largest economy.