Oil traded near $103 a barrel as China’s spreading virus outbreak continued to weigh on the outlook for global demand. West Texas Intermediate futures have struggled for direction this week, erasing earlier losses to trade little changed on Thursday. Hangzhou is the latest Chinese city to start mass virus testing, while the nation’s top state-run oil processor said during an earnings call that the resurgence was slowing fuel demand. The oil market has been gripped by a volatile period of trading since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February and the more recent Covid-19 comeback in China. Traders are also grappling with just how big the hit to Russian supply will be. Surging oil product prices — U.S. diesel futures are at a record — point to a tight underlying market for refined products. “It is remarkable how we end up with this sideways trading,” said Hans van Cleef, […]