Oil prices fell by 3% yesterday as players continue to worry about the prospects of declining demand in the world due to the high likelihood of a global recession. By late afternoon Brent was down 2.94% to $103.78 a barrel and WTI fell 3.63% to $96.25. The lowest points of the session were $111.53 for the former and $94.62 for the latter.

In addition to tight global central bank policy on interest rates (by the way, yesterday the European Central Bank raised interest rates sharply for the first time in 11 years) and the epidemiological situation in China, the pressure on prices was put by signs of declining fuel demand in the United States. Last week, gasoline stocks in the country increased by 3.5 million barrels to 228.4 million. At the same time, Citygroup draws attention to the seasonality factor, reports "Prime" - in the summer the volume of trading in the oil market is traditionally reduced, which, according to the bank, and now contributes to a sharp drop in prices.