18.05.202223:53 Forex Analysis & Reviews: The oil market is full of positivity. All investors' hopes are pinned on China

At trading on Wednesday, world prices for oil are steadily rising on market expectations of a recovery in fuel demand in China. So, by the time of writing, July futures for Brent crude oil increased by 1.3% to $113.29 per barrel. At the same time, the price of WTI futures for June delivery increased by 1.62% to $114.22 per barrel.

At the close of the trading session on Tuesday, contracts for Brent crude oil fell in price by 2% to $111.93 per barrel, and contracts for WTI – by 1.6% to $112.40 per barrel.

The main reason for today's positive in the commodity market was the hopes of its participants for a rapid increase in demand for gasoline in China against the background of the abolition of coronavirus restrictions.

Recently, the Chinese authorities allowed most financial institutions in Shanghai to resume work thanks to three-day zero statistics on new cases of COVID-19 diseases outside quarantine zones. In addition, the government of the Asian state has begun to relax restrictive measures and strict lockdowns in other regions of China.

An additional factor affecting the oil market on Wednesday was the news that the US authorities had eased a number of sanctions against Venezuela and expressed hope for the resumption of negotiations between the opposition and the government of Nicolas Maduro.

Commenting on Washington's decision, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said that the lifting of restrictive measures by the US will no longer hinder the work of American and European oil companies in the country.

Thanks to this reduction in sanctions pressure, America's largest energy company Chevron Corp was able to start negotiations with the Venezuelan company PDVSA on the renewal of the license. Despite this, the extraction and export of black gold to the oil giant from the United States is not yet available.

Investors are also focused on the upcoming release of official data on changes in energy reserves in the United States from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). According to preliminary forecasts of market analysts, over the past week, the country's reserves of oil increased by 1.38 million barrels, and gasoline reserves decreased by 1.33 million barrels.

At the same time, last night the American Petroleum Institute reported that, following the results of the past week, the reserves of oil in the region sank by 2.45 million barrels against the previously estimated growth of 1.53 million barrels by experts.