Oil prices rise 1.5%

Global oil prices on December 23 morning rose more than 1%, Report informs referring to the auction data.

The price of February futures for Brent crude rose by 1.49% to $82.19 per barrel, and February futures for WTI grew by 1.05% to $78.3.

Earlier this week, oil prices also mostly rose. Thus, in four days the price of February futures for Brent crude increased by 4%, and prices of February futures for WTI grew by 5.4%. A number of factors had a positive impact on quotes, one of which is the weakening of coronavirus restrictions in China, which, in turn, increases demand for this type of raw material.

The markets also reacted to the statistics of stocks from the US, which was published on December 21. Thus, commercial reserves in the country for the week to December 16 decreased by 5.9 million barrels, a fall of 1.7 million was predicted. At the same time, oil in the US strategic reserve fell to a minimum since December 1983, amounting to 378.6 million barrels.

In addition, data from Baker Hughes on the number of active oil rigs in the US were published on December 22. During the week to December 22, their number increased by two, to 622 units.