Crude oil futures were higher in mid-morning Asian trade April 12, regaining ground lost in overnight trading after jitters over rising COVID-19 cases in China and upcoming oil reserve releases saw ICE Brent crude settling back below the $100/b mark.

At 10:18 am Singapore time (0218 GMT), the ICE June Brent futures contract was up $1.81/b (1.84%) from the previous close at $100.29/b, while the NYMEX May light sweet crude contract rose $1.83/b (1.94%) at $96.12/b. Both crude oil benchmarks had shed over 4% in overnight trading amid a confluence of bearish factors in recent weeks, among them massive oil reserve releases from the US and International Energy Agency and surging COVID-19 cases in China. While oil prices were rising in Asian trade April 12 likely on dip-buying, analysts said they were expected to remain pressured in […]