January futures for WTI crude oil fell 1.30% to $ 69.81 per barrel.

Brent crude for February delivery dropped 1.13% to $ 72.87 per barrel.

Earlier, the director of the Energy Development Fund Sergei Pikin, in an interview with the PolitExpert publication, gave a forecast regarding oil prices amid the pandemic, including the identification of a new strain of the omicron coronavirus.