Crude oil prices declined slightly at the beginning of the week, affected by growing concerns over weak Chinese demand for oil, following Monday's data that showed a drop in Chinese oil demand in 2024.
Global Oil Price Performance In the global markets, U.S. crude oil contracts fell by 0.42%, bringing the price per barrel to $77.00, while Brent crude contracts also decreased by the same percentage, with a price of $80.37 per barrel. This decline reflects the prevailing market anxiety about the possibility of continued weak Chinese demand for crude oil in 2025.
Factors Affecting Oil Price Decline Oil prices were significantly impacted on Monday by a decline in China's total crude oil imports, as it remains the largest global oil importer, witnessing a 1.9% decrease over the past year, marking the first decline of its kind after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This drop is attributed to a slowdown in China's economic growth, as well as the demand for fuel reaching its peak, leading to a reduced volume of oil purchases by China, raising considerable concerns in the markets about the decline in Chinese oil demand in 2025.
Additionally, prices were affected by market expectations regarding the inauguration of the elected U.S. President, Donald Trump, who is expected to issue orders to quickly encourage the development of the oil and gas industry in the United States, which could lead to an increase in American oil supply in the markets and negatively impact prices.
Performance of Other Energy Contracts In terms of other energy contracts, heating oil contracts rose by 2.87%, with the price per gallon reaching $2.6349, while gasoline contracts fell by 1.68%, recording $2.1080 per gallon. Natural gas contracts also declined by 3.75%, bringing the price per million British thermal units to $3.800.
