Crude oil prices as of today are rising after a significant drop in the previous two sessions amid concerns over the demand outlook. Crude oil prices dropped about 9% during the last two sessions due to a rise in the incidence of COVID-19 in China, which worsens the short-term outlook for oil demand in that country.

Crude oil prices as of today – what’s affecting the market? 

Also, concerns about energy shortages at the global market during the winter period, which supported the prices in recent months, weakened, given the milder than expected winter weather in the U.S. and Europe, notes Bloomberg.

Traders on Thursday will focus on the U.S. energy inventory report to be released by the country’s Department of Energy. The previous day’s data from American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a 3.3 mln barrels increase in US reserves for the week ended December 30.

The March Brent crude oil price on London’s ICE Futures exchange traded on Thursday stood at $78.92 per barrel, which was $1.08 (1.39%) higher than at the close of the previous session. At the close of trading on Wednesday, these contracts fell by $4.26 (5.2%) to $77.84 per barrel.

The price of WTI futures for February increased by $1.09 (1.50%) to $73.93 per barrel at the electronic NYMEXby that time. By the close of previous trading hours those contracts had gone down by $4.09 (5.3%) to $72.84 a barrel.

Earlier we reported that Swiss analysts predicted oil at $110 per barrel.