Fixed in the area of ​​$ 123 oil

Oil prices fell short of falling three-month highs yesterday as strong demand for gasoline in the United States appears to offset concerns over new restrictions in China.

In particular, the European Brent August delivery completed trading with small losses 0.4% or 51 cents, at $ 123.07 the barrel.

Similarly, the American WTI saw his own July contract fall slightly by 60 cents or 0.5% closing in $ 121.51 the barrel.

The combination of limited supply and ever-increasing demand has kept oil prices extremely high over the past two months, with the market showing little reaction to negative news such as the imposition of new local lockdowns in China.

On the other hand, the activity in the second largest economy in the world shows that it is increasing its pace with its exports jumping by 16.9% in May. This is the fastest pace recorded since January and more than double the estimate made by analysts.

But senior OANDA analyst Jeffrey Haley said: “The news that a lockdown has been imposed in an area of ​​Shanghai is much more important, rekindling fears of another round of China’s weakness due to its zero-covid policy. This limits any gains. in Asia today. ”

In any case, analysts believe that strong demand for gasoline in the US remains the determining factor in market movement.

Characteristically, despite record prices for the pump, the United States Department of Energy announced yesterday that gasoline inventories fell last week by 800,000 barrels.

And as the so-called US driving season has just begun, there is no sign of a drop in demand.

“Although prices have risen, we have not yet seen a significant drop in demand,” said Thomas Saal, vice president of StoneX Financial. “It’s something that can happen any day, but people are still driving.”