Crude oil futures were higher in mid-morning trade in Asia March 16 as market participants weighed the impact of China’s worsening COVID-19 outbreak on demand and signs of progress in the stalled Iran nuclear deal on supply.
At 11 am Singapore time (0300 GMT), the May ICE Brent futures contract was up $1.27/b (1.27%) from the previous close at $101.18/b, while the April NYMEX light sweet crude contract was 90 cent/b (0.93%) higher at $97.34/b. China has sent nearly 30 million people into lockdown in an effort to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak since early 2020, spurred by the highly-transmissible omicron variant. The government has locked down Shenzhen city and Jilin province, while largest city Shanghai is under a slew of pandemic-related restrictions, as the country pursues a “zero-COVID policy,” local media reported. “China is the world’s […]