Oil quotes are down slightly, with North Sea Brent holding near its high from November last year, reached the previous day.

. “Bulls” in the oil market “are being supported by hopes for a recovery in demand as the Chinese economy opens up, with a weak dollar also helping to boost quotes,” said FXTM analyst Lukman Otunuga.

“North American WTI may continue to rise, not only due to an improved outlook for China, but also due to expectations that the Fed will slow the pace of rate hikes,” he added.

Current market conditions suggest traders may be underestimating the outlook for fuel demand growth from Chinese consumers or the expected decline in Russian oil production, said Stephen Innes, managing director at SPI Asset Management.

A price ceiling on Russian refined products, including fuel oil and diesel, is expected to take effect on Feb. 5, MarketWatch wrote.

“Russia is the largest supplier of diesel to the EU, accounting for nearly half of imports in 2022,” said Bob Yager, head of energy futures at Mizuho Securities. Suspending imports from Russia would cut diesel supplies by more than 660,000 bpd, he added.

Meanwhile, the number of active oil rigs in the U.S. fell by 10 last week, at a record pace since September 2021, to 613, oilfield services company Baker Hughes said. The number of gas rigs rose by 6, to 156.

The cost of March futures for Brent on the London exchange ICE Futures by 8:26 Moscow time is $88.05 per barrel, which is $0.14 (0.16%) lower than at the close of the previous session. At the end of trading on Monday, these contracts rose by $0.56 (0.6%) to $88.19 per barrel, renewing the record closing figure since November 22.

The price of WTI crude oil futures for March at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time decreased by 2 cents (0.02%) – to $81.60 per barrel. At the end of the last session the contract decreased in price by 2 cents, to $81.62 per barrel