Oil continues to fall at the end of the trading week

On Friday, oil quotes are declining, continuing the trend of the previous day and ending the second week in a row in the red. Pressure on the asset is exerted by a slight weakening of traders' optimism about the prospects for demand in China and the continued growth of stocks in the United States.

The current price of Brent oil is $81.94 per barrel, North American WTI oil is trading at $75.50 per barrel. Both benchmarks ended trading on Thursday at lows since January 10.

In general, since the beginning of this year, oil has been trading in the range of about $10 per barrel. Several factors have a multidirectional effect on the asset at once. On the one hand, the market is waiting for a rise in demand in China after the lifting of quarantine restrictions in the country, and on the other hand, it fears a decline in activity in developed countries due to the continued increase in rates by the world's leading central banks.

In addition, the EU embargo on the supply of Russian petroleum products will come into force next week as part of the introduction of a price ceiling, and traders will wait for the consequences of this measure. 

Analysts note that today the oil market is in limbo, waiting for tangible signs of demand growth in China. At the same time, although the factor of the ban on the supply of Russian petroleum products to the EU is not the main one, it still creates some uncertainty.