Oil is getting more expensive today amid a more significant than expected rise in prices for Asian buyers by the Saudi state company Saudi Aramco.

This decision was perceived by the market as a signal of Saudi Arabia’s confidence in the growth of demand for oil, notes Bloomberg.

Saudi Aramco said yesterday that it will raise prices in July for all grades of exported oil for Asia, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean. Prices for oil exported to the U.S. next month will remain at June levels.

The cost of the main Arab Light grade shipped to Asia will increase by $2.1 a barrel. As a result, it will cost $6.5 a barrel more than a basket of crude from Oman and Dubai. Experts surveyed by Bloomberg on average predicted a rise of $1.5 per barrel.

The cost of August futures for Brent crude oil on the London-based ICE Futures exchange by 8:18 Moscow time was $120.47 per barrel, up $0.75 (0.63%) from the previous session’s closing price. At the end of trading on Friday, these contracts rose by $2.11 (1.8%) to $119.72 per barrel.

The price of WTI oil futures for July at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) amounted to $119.57 per barrel by this time, which is $0.7 (0.59%) higher than the final value of the previous session. On Friday, the cost of these contracts increased $2 (1.7%), to $118.87 per barrel.

At the end of last week, the price of Brent increased by 3.6%, WTI – by 3.3%.

“The peak energy demand season has already arrived,” said Chen Shuxian, an analyst at Cinda Securities Co. in Shanghai. – Increased automobile travel in the U.S. and Europe will boost energy consumption. At the same time, demand in China will also increase due to the removal of quarantine restrictions”.

Authorities in Beijing over the weekend announced that the situation in the Chinese capital is returning to normal, and the bulk of the anti-quarantine restrictions will be lifted. In particular, on Monday, the operation of public transportation in most parts of the city will resume, which will allow people to return to their workplaces.