Oil prices rose today, Dec. 30, heading for their second-yearly straight gains on optimism about demand recovery in China during 2023 and ease of tough COVID-19 restrictions.
Although China is facing an upsurge in the epidemic cases, demand is expected to recover eventually in the world's largest crude importer.
Oil prices are set to record modest gains this year. They rose after the onset of Russia-Ukraine war affected energy flows, then fell amid growing concerns about global economic slowdown, along with interest-rate hikes by global central banks to fight inflation.
Brent crude futures for February delivery rose 0.53%, or $0.44, to $83.90 a barrel at 9:04 am Makkah time, with gains of 5.76% in 2022. Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for February delivery moved up 0.55%, or $0.43, to $78.83 a barrel, gaining around 5% this year.
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