Current crude oil prices continued to rise steadily on Monday afternoon on hopes for a rebound in fuel demand in China. Both were up over 3% last week on news of the Keystone pipeline shutdown due to an oil leak.

The question of why crude oil prices are falling today is irrelevant. The Chinese government at the end of last week announced its intention to focus on stimulating economic growth in 2023. The government pledged to take measures to help boost domestic demand, making it a priority task for the coming year, Xinhua reported.

The US decision also supported the market to start replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Earlier the country’s authorities sold 180 million barrels from the reserves to reduce gasoline prices.

February futures on Brent grew by $0.41 (0.52%) to $79.45 per barrel at London’s ICE Futures Exchange.

By the indicated time quotations of January futures for WTI grew by $0.25 (0.34%) to $74.54 per barrel at NYMEX.

Earlier, we reported that oil prices will rise significantly in the 1st half of 2023.