Global oil prices rise amid decline in US inventories

Global oil prices rose on December 23 morning amid the decline in US crude reserves, Report informs referring to the auction data.

The price of March futures for Brent crude oil rose by 0.17% to $75.41 per barrel, while the price of February futures on WTI grew 0.25%, to $72.94.

Commercial oil reserves in the US for the week ended December 17 fell more than expected - by 4.7 million barrels. Analysts had expected a decrease by only 2.8 million barrels. Oil production for the week decreased by 100,000 barrels per day - to 11.6 million barrels per day. At the same time, gasoline stocks increased significantly stronger than the forecast - by 5.5 million barrels instead of 0.5 million.

The situation with the coronavirus is somewhat holding back the growth of prices. The rate of infection in a number of countries remains high against the background of the spread of the omicron strain in the world. On December 22, authorities in the multimillion Chinese city of Xian announced a quarantine. Some tightening of restrictions is taking place in a number of European countries. All of this could hit oil demand, traders fear.