Oil Prices Decline

On Monday evening, oil prices accelerated their decline. According to Interfax, as of 18:25 Moscow time (19:25 Yerevan time), March futures for Brent crude on the London ICE Futures exchange fell by $0.80 (1.02%) to $77.49 per barrel. Meanwhile, February futures for WTI on the NYMEX exchange decreased by $0.83 (1.14%) to $71.85 per barrel.

The trading volume in the oil market may shrink on Monday, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed in the United States.

The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) has announced that the U.S. armed forces have warned them that the risks for vessels transiting the Red Sea remain high. The United States launched a new strike against Yemen on Saturday, in response to ballistic missile threats posed by Houthi rebels on navigation routes in the Red Sea. Military forces hit another Houthi missile on Sunday.

According to analysts at Citigroup, “Our main scenario does not imply that U.S. and UK strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and the situation in the Red Sea will lead to a significant rise in oil prices in the coming weeks.” They added, “At the same time, the likelihood of increasing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah and/or Iran poses greater concerns in the near future.”