Global crude oil news

7 Nov 2022 , 08:31 AM

At the opening of Asia trade on Monday, oil prices tumbled more than 2% after Chinese officials, who are the world’s biggest petroleum importer, restated their commitment to a tight COVID containment strategy over the weekend.

After hitting a low of $96.50 earlier, Brent oil futures fell $1.58, or 1.6%, to $96.99 a barrel at 2336 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude earlier in the session hit a session low of $90.40 per barrel and was trading at $90.84 per barrel as of this writing, down $1.77 or 1.9%.

Oil prices are also being affected by a rise in the US currency.

Despite positive jobs numbers, four Federal Reserve policymakers said on Friday that they would still take into account a lesser interest rate increase at their subsequent policy meeting.

Despite no official modifications being made, speculation about a potential end to the strict COVID-19 lockdowns drove up the prices of Brent and WTI last week, rising 2.9% and 5.4%, respectively.

Health officials asserted, however, at a news conference on Saturday that they would continue to treat COVID cases according to their “dynamic-clearing” strategy as soon as they appeared.

Later on Monday, trade data from the world’s second-largest economy could reveal additional cooling in exports as global demand remained weak.

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