(London) Oil prices, boosted Tuesday by the tension on the Russian offer, between Western sanctions and replicas of Moscow, fell slightly Wednesday while the announced reopening of China worries.
Around 6:15 a.m. (Eastern time) (12:15 p.m. in Paris), a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in February yielded 1.04%, to 83.45 dollars.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery the same month, lost 0.96% to 78.77 dollars.
Moscow’s announcement of a ban on the sale of its oil to foreign countries that use the cap on the price of Russian black gold only very temporarily benefited prices.
“The hope of a rebound in Chinese demand has supported oil prices,” said Victoria Scholar, analyst at Interactive Investor.
Beijing’s announcement on Monday of the end of mandatory quarantines on arrival in the country on January 8 was greeted with joy by the Chinese.
But the reopening of China is starting to worry, and the United States is considering imposing entry restrictions on its territory for travelers from this country.
Oilytics analysts point out how difficult it has become to judge the state of the oil market “due to the huge unknowns of Russia and China”.
For 2023, “all indicators point to a supply deficit, but the risk of a global recession could change this forecast”, they believe.