International oil prices continued to rise during Thursday's trading, coinciding with the decline in US inventories, indicating an increase in demand for crude.

The data of the US Energy Information Administration revealed yesterday, that oil stocks fell by 4.7 million barrels for the week ending on December 17, while gasoline stocks in the United States rose 5.5 million barrels.

Coinciding with the EIA report, a number of countries, including Germany, South Korea and the Netherlands, decided to implement partial or comprehensive closures or restrictions related to social distancing in the few days past with the Omicron outbreak.

In terms of today's trading, Brent crude futures for February delivery rose by 0.4% to reach $75.56 a barrel, and the US NYMEX crude for February delivery rose by 0.3%. % at the level of $73 per barrel.