As of 4:30 p.m. CET on Thursday, a barrel of Brent was selling for $96.50 (2,360 crowns), an hour earlier it had cost a dollar less. American light oil WTI even depreciated by over four percent and was sold at $92.5 at the same time.
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In both cases, these are values that prevailed on the market for the last time in February before the war in Ukraine.
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The price of oil has been falling steadily for two weeks. The main reason is the fear of a recession, which is stronger than the opposite factors: the decline in exports of oil and refined products from Russia due to Western sanctions or problems with mining in Libya.
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The possible onset of recession was fueled by data published on Wednesday about June inflation in the US, which rose from 8.6 percent in May to 9.1 percent. Analysts expect the Fed to raise the key interest rate more significantly than previously expected at its meeting in two weeks, as part of its efforts to tame inflation. Some are predicting an increase of up to one percentage point.
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The price drop is also due to the strong dollar, which makes oil purchases more expensive for non-American buyers, Reuters added.
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