China’s Covid resurgence is part of the reason oil prices plummeted from record highs

China’s Covid resurgence is part of the reason oil prices plummeted from record highs

China's recent Covid wave and subsequent lockdowns have helped oil prices ease from record highs reached roughly a week ago, according to analysts. "We have the re-emergence of Covid in China, which is throwing another spanner into the works when we're trying to assess what the demand will be," said Richard Gorry, managing director of JBC Energy Asia. He also said markets are still grappling with the disruption of oil supply caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Oil prices have been volatile in recent sessions, spiking to record levels not seen since 2008 just a week ago, reaching above $130 per barrel. But crude prices then fell drastically, dropping more than 27% below that recent high to less than $100 a barrel earlier this week. "The OPEC in their monthly reports have not changed their demand forecast, which suggests that it is business as normal," Gorry said. "I would tend to believe that that will probably change in the months ahead, because if we look at China, for example, right now, we have 45 million people under lockdown, like it was in 2020. And we know from history that this does have an impact on oil demand." In the last few