Oil refiners in China have been increasing their purchases of oil hoping to boost energy consumption in the country following the lifting of quarantine restrictions, Bloomberg agency noted. Why is oil going up in price?

“Why is crude oil going up in price? Prices are rising amid continued optimism about China’s prospects,” said Charu Chanana, an analyst at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. – Signals that the incidence of COVID-19 in the country has peaked, reinforcing expectations for a more sustainable rise in demand.

U.S. Department of Energy data released the day before showed an unexpected and sharp increase in U.S. oil inventories. The index grew by 8.41 million barrels to 4483.02 million barrels while experts interviewed by Bloomberg expected a decrease of reserves by 3 million barrels. Gasoline inventories rose 3.48 million barrels, compared to an expected increase of 2.4 million barrels.

“The inventory data was significantly different from what the market was expecting,” said Tyche Capital Advisors expert Tariq Zahir. – Nevertheless, we expect prices to rise further given the opening of the Chinese economy, the situation in Ukraine and the fact that the U.S. government needs to replenish the strategic oil reserves.”

The value of March futures for Brent crude oil on London’s ICE Futures exchange at 8:29 Moscow time on Friday is $86.28 per barrel, which is $0.12 (0.14%) above the price at the close of the previous session. Those contracts rose by $1.18 (1.4%) to $86.16 a barrel at the close of trading on Thursday.

The price of WTI futures for February at electronic trades on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) increased by that time by $0.17 (0.21%) up to $80.5 per barrel. By closing of previous trades, these contracts grew by $0.85 (1.1%) to $80.33 per barrel.

Earlier we reported that oil from Russia is mixed with other raw materials in Singapore and exported around the world.