Oil declines as China renews COVID-19 restrictions

By Murat Temizer

ANKARA (AA) – Oil prices fell on Tuesday as fresh COVID-19 restrictions in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, and fears of a global economic slowdown feed worries over a demand fall.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $105.38 per barrel at 9.15 a.m. local time (0615 GMT) for a 1.60% decrease after the previous session closed at $107.1 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $102.17 per barrel at the same time on Tuesday for a 1.84% loss, after the previous session closed at $104.09 a barrel.

Exerting downward price pressure, economic uncertainties driven by global recession fears are growing. As a result, investor risk appetite is falling.

In China, many cities are adopting new COVID-19 curbs, which affects the oil prices and market.

The barrel price of Brent oil, which fell to $97.2 due to recession concerns during the week, partially compensated for its losses with China's announcement of an infrastructure package worth $220 billion and strong US labor market data, but decreased 4.7% to $105.5 last week.

One of the main factors that drives oil prices is the Russia-Ukraine war. Western sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine have disrupted trade flows for crude and fuel.

In addition, the markets are focused on US President Joe Biden's official visit to Saudi Arabia.

The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Monday that Biden will raise the case for greater oil production from OPEC when he meets Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia.