Oil prices are falling on Monday amid a general decline in investor appetite for risk due to information about the ongoing protests in China against covid restrictions.

The cost of January futures for Brent crude oil on the London-based ICE Futures exchange by 8:10 Moscow time on Monday is $81.31 per barrel, which is $2.32 (2.77%) lower than the price at the close of the previous session. At the end of trading on Friday, these contracts fell in price by $1.71 (2%) to $83.63 per barrel.

The price of WTI oil futures for January at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by this time by $2.31 (3.03%), to $73.97 per barrel. By the close of previous trades, the cost of these contracts decreased by $1.66 (2.1%), to $76.28 per barrel.

At the end of last week, Brent fell in price by 4.6%, WTI – by 4.8%.

According to Bloomberg, protests were held in cities across the country, including the capital Beijing, as well as Shanghai, Xinjiang and Wuhan, which was originally the epicenter of the COVID-19 spread.

This is contributing to a stronger U.S. dollar, which reduces the attractiveness of investing in crude, and also increases the likelihood of even more significant tightening of restrictions by Chinese authorities, the agency said.

“The outlook for the oil market remains unfavorable and this weekend’s events in China do not add to the positivity,” notes Warren Patterson, who is in charge of commodities strategy at ING Groep NV in Singapore.

Oil demand in the PRC is forecast to fall to 15.11 million barrels per day (bpd) in the fourth quarter from 15.82 million bpd a year earlier, according to analyst firm Kpler.