The market anticipates that the easing of Covid-related limitations in China will increase demand for the commodity, which is why crude oil futures traded higher on Monday. The price of January crude oil futures on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) opened at $6,620, up $0.99 from the previous close of $6,555. The price of February futures opened at $6,664, up $0.94 from the previous close of $6,602.
China recently said that it would start providing passports for tourists again. This action was taken following months of China’s rigorous zero-Covid policy being used to contain the pandemic. The Chinese decision has an influence on world demand because they are a significant user of crude oil. The Brent crude oil futures, however, reached a price on Friday that was close to $86 per barrel on the final trading day of 2022.
This represented an annual gain of about 11%. Because of imbalances between supply and demand, crude oil saw extremely high volatility last year. The price of Brent crude oil hit a 14-year high of $137 a barrel in early March, just as the Russia-Ukraine war was beginning.
In 2022, as several of the main economies started raising interest rates to combat inflation, the upward rise in prices was hampered. The price of January natural gas futures on the MCX opened at 375 against the previous close of 377.80, down 0.74 percent.
