The price of oil continues to decline on Monday after the collapse to January lows at the end of last week. The current Brent quote is $85.35 per barrel; the daily low was fixed at $83.45. North American WTI oil is trading at $79.30 (the daily low is $77.22 per barrel). Over the past week, Brent lost 5.7% of its value, WTI – 7.1%, and both brands ended trading at the lowest levels since January. Analysts note that the main reason for the fall in oil prices is fears of a global recession, which affected all financial markets, brought down stocks and caused bond yields to rise and the US dollar to strengthen. Moreover, huge political tensions and record inflation in decades are contributing to a decline in oil demand. Traders are also following the discussion of a new package of anti-Russian sanctions that may affect the oil and gas sector. The new package of sanctions may include the introduction of a maximum price for purchases of Russian oil.
