The Chinese zero-COVID policy has been spooking the oil market several times over the past two years. China locked down all 17.5 million residents in the business hub Shenzhen. Chinese independent refiners in the Shandong province have cut run rates further due to the lockdowns. Traffic in several major cities in China has dropped considerably since the authorities imposed this weekend new regional lockdowns as part of the zero-COVID policy. The decline in traffic in Shanghai and Shenzhen has market participants and analysts concerned about the potential threat to oil demand in the world’s largest crude oil importer. Peak traffic congestion in Shanghai was down by 36 percent on March 15 compared to the same day last year, while traffic jams in Shenzhen were down by 26 percent, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing data from Baidu Inc. The capital city Beijing, which is not under lockdown currently, has also […]