Oil falling in price

Oil prices fell during trading on December 17 after a steady rise following the previous trading, Report informs referring to Interfax.

The cost of February futures for Brent oil on the London ICE Futures stock exchange amounted to $74.3 per barrel, which is $0.72 (0.96%) lower than the price at the close of the previous session. As a result of trading on December 16, these futures rose by $1.14 (1.5%) to $75.02 per barrel.

The price of WTI crude oil futures for January at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time amounted to $71.6 per barrel, which is $0.78 (1.08%) below the final value of the previous session. By the close of trading on December 17, the value of these contracts increased by $1.51 (2.13%) to $72.38 per barrel.

The market was supported December 16 by a general increase in risk appetite on world markets due to the decisions of the Federal Reserve System (FRS), as well as data on a more significant-than-expected decline in US oil reserves. Meanwhile, on December 17, traders began to overestimate the demand forecast against the backdrop of an increase in the number of coronavirus infection cases in the world, Trading Economics reports.

The International Energy Agency had previously warned that the rise in coronavirus infection cases would hit global oil demand during a period of expected growth in stocks.