Oil prices decline slightly on Monday but are still at a high level due to expectations that China’s reopening will increase demand for oil, reports Reuters.

A barrel of European reference crude Brent trades at USD 84.69 Monday morning against USD 84.93 on Friday afternoon, with US counterpart WTI selling at USD 79.34 per barrel compared to Friday’s level of USD 79.45.

The slight dip counters last week trends which saw prices on both US and European oil increase by more than 8% – the highest weekly advance since October.

Last week’s large price increases might have made investors inclined to bring home profits which could explain the modest decline in prices, says Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, to Reuters.

The elevated prices are linked to numbers showing that Chinese oil imports have increased by 4% from December 2021 to December 2022.

Traffic levels in China are also heading toward normalization, prompting increased demand for fossil fuels, notes an ANZ analyst to Reuters.

Renewed demand for Chinese oil is expected to cause a 40% dip in China’s exports of refined oil products from December until January, state analysts to the news agency.

In the coming weeks, oil prices will be affected by the monthly reports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), providing updates on supply and demand for oil.

A meeting held at the Japanese central bank, Bank of Japan, will also be followed closely by investors.