During Thursday's trading session the global price of oil fell steadily on a report of a week-long increase in oil inventories in the United States and investor worries about the tense epidemiological situation in China.
Thus, the price of June benchmark Brent futures increased by 1.48% to $103.76 per barrel. By the results of trades the day before, the cost of these contracts increased by 0.3% - up to $105.32 per barrel.
WTI futures for June delivery rose 1.37% to $100.62 a barrel by that time. On Wednesday, these contracts rose 0.3% to $102.02 a barrel.
According to the latest report from the US Department of Energy, the country's commercial oil inventories rose by 691,000 barrels last week. At the same time, gasoline reserves fell by 1.57m barrels and distillates dropped by 1.45m barrels.
The focus of commodity market participants on Thursday is the outlook for changes in oil demand in China. The demand for oil in one of the world's biggest oil-consuming countries has been falling noticeably in recent weeks amid the imposition of tough anti- COVID-19 measures and lockdowns.
Meanwhile, even more worrying about investors is the permanent rise in the number of COVID-19 diseases in Beijing.
The US dollar's strengthening position was no less important downward factor for the oil market today. Since Thursday morning, the US currency has been steadily rising against other key world currencies (yen and euro). In such a situation, oil and other commodities, whose contracts are priced in dollars, become more expensive for holders of alternative currencies.