Crude prices are recording strong declines exceeding 3.5% in the middle of today’s trading session, Monday, the opening session of the week, coinciding with the opening of the American markets, where Brent crude is trading at levels of 108.41 dollars a barrel, down by about 3.78%, while American crude (NYMEX) is losing about 4% by trading at levels $104.95 a barrel, affected by the rise in risk appetite in the markets resulting from the development of talks between the Ukrainian and Russian sides.

Today, Monday, the markets are awaiting the results of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, as locals expect the negotiations to witness positive progress in the coming period, especially after the statements of the chief adviser to the Ukrainian President Zelensky today that positive talks were held with the Russian side via video technology, then Russian President Putin spoke with his French and German counterparts afterwards.

. On the other hand, China, the largest importer of crude in the world, announced an increase in cases of the Corona virus in the new mutant strain, Omicron, and began to close some cities, which provided additional support for the declines in crude prices.

The Director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, in turn, urged the oil-producing countries to increase their production to achieve price stability after the direct impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war.