Oil prices are up Wednesday as the market expects demand to rise after China said the country would consider how it may drop its Covid-19 restrictions as of March 2023, Reuters reports.

A barrel of European reference oil Brent Wednesday morning costs USD 95.77 against USD 94.31 Tuesday afternoon CET. US counterpart West Texas Intermediate concurrently trades at USD 89.59 against USD 88.06.

Furthermore, Tuesday saw new data released by the American Petroleum Institute, showing that crude stockpiles decreased by 6.5 million barrels last week.

The drop in demand and China potentially abandoning its restrictive Covid-19 policy are boosting oil prices.

China, the world’s second-largest oil importer, has long contributed to weakening oil prices as the country’s demand has been below normal levels.

Prices are expected to soon be underpinned by the European Union’s embargo on Russian oil set to take effect on Dec. 5.

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