Oil falling on fears of decrease in global demand

World oil prices slightly decreased on January 25 morning, as the situation with the coronavirus and quarantine restrictions in the world raises concerns around the prospects for demand in crude, Report informs citing Prime agency.

As of 8:46 (Baku time), the price of April futures for North Sea Brent crude oil blend fell by 0.14 percent, to $55.17 per barrel, March futures - by 0.13 percent to $55.34. The price of March futures for WTI oil dropped by 0.08 percent to $52.23 per barrel.

"Signs of weakening oil demand are holding back the market," Reuters reports referring to analysts at ANZ, pointing to the quarantine situation in China, Hong Kong, and France.

Fears of tightening restrictions in connection with the coronavirus pandemic generally restrain expectations for oil demand. So, earlier, the media reported about the possibility of a new tightening of quarantine in France.

Besides, the markets are worried about the statistics on infections in China, which is the largest oil importer in the world.

Over the past day, 124 cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in the country. Since the middle of the month, the figure has exceeded 100 cases per day, which corresponds to July’s statistics. Investors fear the lunar New Year celebration in China could trigger a new surge in infections.