Oil prices reached their highest levels in three weeks today; Buoyed by the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in China, and the reduction of energy production in the United States due to winter storms.
According to Arabia Net, Brent crude rose 80 cents, or 0.80%, to $84.72 a barrel by 10:56 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude increased 67 cents to $80.23 a barrel. Both benchmarks earlier in the session hit their highest levels since Dec. 5.
The National Health Commission of China had announced that it would exempt those coming to it from quarantine procedures, starting from January 8, in a major step towards easing restrictions on the borders that have been largely closed since 2020.
This is definitely something that traders and investors have been looking forward to, said Naeem Islam, an analyst at AvaTrade, referring to China's quarantine plan.
The British and American markets were closed on Monday for the Christmas holidays.
Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Securities, said oil was also supported by fears of supply disruptions due to winter storms in the United States.
He added, however, that the weather is expected to improve in the United States this week, which means that the rally may not last for long.
As of Friday, about 1.5 million barrels of daily production capacity had been shut down at refineries on the US Gulf Coast while oil and gas production from North Dakota to Texas suffered from the freeze, curtailing production.
