Crude oil futures fell in mid-morning Asian trade on April 28 as news of China’s mass testing for COVID-19 weighed on sentiment, overshadowing supply-side concerns of a modest US inventory build and looming risk of further Russian energy sanctions.
At 11:00 am Singapore time (0300 GMT), the ICE June Brent futures contract was down $1.63/b (1.55%) from the previous close at $103.69/b, while the NYMEX June light sweet crude contract fell $1.44/b (1.41%) at $100.58/b. On April 27, China reported 48 new symptomatic and 2 new asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in Beijing, state broadcaster CCTV reported April 28. Beijing rolled out a mass testing program with millions of people in Beijing taking their 2nd COVID-19 test of the week on April 27. In Hangzhou, similar measures were undertaken as state media reported that mass testing also began in the […]