Oil prices climb higher Tuesday morning on the outlook to fuel demand in China rising in step with the nation easing back on its zero-Covid policy.

Beijing recently decided to cancel quarantine rules for travelers entering the country, effective from Jan. 8.

In the US, a fierce winter storm has also obliged several oil refineries to remain closed.

A barrel of European reference oil Brent trades for USD 84.44 Tuesday morning CET against USD 83.34 Friday afternoon.

US counterpart West Texas Intermediate sells concurrently for USD 80.09 against USD 79.76.

Crude prices surged last week by roughly 7% after Russia threatened to cut output by up to 700,000 barrels per day as retaliation to G7 nations imposing a price ceiling on the warring nation’s oil export.

The price of European natural gas has fallen significantly as of late, trading as low as EUR 83 per MWh at closing trading hours Friday afternoon – the lowest level since June.

Mild weather in Europe combined with the outlook to relatively warm temperatures around New Years are pushing prices downward at the same time as ample cargoes of liquefied natural gas arrive in the continent, where fuel inventories are also filled to levels higher than normal, reports Bloomberg News.

Elsewhere in commodities, one troy ounce of gold trades for USD 1,812.80 Tuesday morning CET against USD 1,808.60 Friday afternoon.

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