Continuing their pause after having recently returned to the records posted during the pandemic, oil prices remained stable on Friday. Annual imports of black gold from China, the global driver of demand for hydrocarbons, fell 5.4% last year, falling for the first time since 2001.

Around 8:10 a.m., a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in March, the main contract traded in London, was trading at 84.65 dollars, a small increase of 0.21%, after having suffered a slight drop the day before. 0.23%, to $84.47. That of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February rose imperceptibly 0.05% to 82.16 dollars, after suffering a decline of 0.62% the day before, to 82.12 dollars. Black gold prices remained close to the levels presented at the end of October 2021, i.e. $86.70 for Brent and $85.41 for WTI, highs since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, imports of natural gas, including pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), increased 19.9% in 2021 from a year earlier to a record $121.36 million. tons, according to customs data.