World oil prices on Monday demonstrate multidirectional trading. Last Friday, Brent quotes rose to $112.68 per barrel, which became a weekly high. Today, the asset dropped sharply to $109, subsequently recovering to $111.13 per barrel. WTI crude is trading at $108.7 after rising to $110.5 on Friday. The main pressure on prices today puts the likelihood of a reduction in demand for raw materials against the background of the publication of data on the slowdown in economic activity in China. In particular, retail sales in April decreased by 11.1% (a decrease of only 6.1% was expected). And the level of industrial production fell by 2.9%, analysts predicted an increase of 0.4%. Industrial production in China showed a decline for the first time since 2020. Earlier, before the release of these statistics, oil of both brands showed growth amid optimism about summer demand for raw materials. The introduction of strict restrictive coronavirus measures in China continues to have an additional impact on oil prices. Today, attention should be paid to the meeting of EU finance ministers, at which the next round of sanctions against Russia will be discussed. Earlier it was reported that some European countries are ready to consider the possibility of postponing the introduction of a ban on the import of Russian oil if Hungary does not support it. At the same time, Germany announced that it plans to stop importing oil from Russia by the end of this year, even if the EU does not make a single decision on the imposition of an embargo. The administration of Olaf Scholz is already looking for alternative suppliers and is confident that it will be able to solve the remaining logistical problems within the next six to seven months.
