Oil quotes continued moderate gains on Thursday morning, thanks to data on a larger-than-expected reduction in US oil inventories last week.

 As reported by Interfax, the cost of February futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:12 Moscow time was $79.39 per barrel, which is $0.16 (0.2%) higher than the price at the close of the previous session.  As a result of trading on Wednesday, these contracts increased in price by $0.29 (0.4%) – up to $79.23 per barrel.

 The price of WTI crude oil futures for February in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time amounted to $76.74 per barrel, having risen by $0.18 (0.24%) compared to the final value of the previous session.  By the close of trading the day before, the value of these contracts increased by $0.58 (0.8%) and amounted to $76.56 per barrel.

 During the trading session the day before, the oil price reached its maximum values ​​since the end of November.  And since the beginning of the year, both brands have risen in price by more than 50%, which has not been seen in over a decade, Trading Economics reports.

 As it became known the day before, commercial oil reserves in the United States decreased by 3.58 million barrels last week, while experts interviewed by Bloomberg were expecting a reduction of 2.7 million barrels.  Inventories of gasoline decreased by 1.46 million barrels, distillates – decreased by 1.73 million barrels.

 In addition, investors are increasingly betting that governments will not introduce new travel restrictions amid new evidence that the omicron coronavirus strain is less dangerous than previous options.

 Market attention is now shifting to the OPEC+ meeting on January 4.  At this meeting, representatives of oil-producing states will discuss plans to increase production by the planned 400 thousand barrels per day in February.