On Wednesday morning, oil prices continued to decline due to some easing of fears of an immediate escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The current price of Brent oil is $87.67 per barrel. The last time such values were noted was almost 2 weeks ago. North American WTI oil is trading near the level of $83.28. Although the market remains concerned about the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the potential reduction of oil supplies because of this, recent calls for Israel to reconsider plans for a ground operation in Gaza have reduced these concerns. US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have agreed to strengthen diplomatic efforts to preserve stability in the Middle East and to counter the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Today we should pay attention to the report of the US Department of Energy on energy reserves. Experts expect that crude oil reserves in the country will decrease by 0.5 million barrels. Preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), published yesterday, indicated a decrease in oil reserves in the United States by 2.668 million barrels last week.