Crude oil futures inched lower in mid-morning Asian trade April 29 as China’s lockdown continued to weigh on crude sentiment despite fears of supply disruptions from a potential embargo on Russian oil.

At 11:00 am Singapore time (0300 GMT), the ICE June Brent futures contract was down 13 cents /b (0.12%) from the previous close at $107.46/b, while the NYMEX June light sweet crude contract fell 31 cents/b (0.29%) at $105.05/b. On April 28, Beijing began closing down schools, entertainment outlets and tourist sites and carried out mass testing on its capital’s 22 million residents to avert a Shanghai-like lockdown, according to media outlets. Asia’s oil demand outlook for 2022 is starting to look dimmer than a couple of months ago as China’s strict COVID-19 lockdowns overshadowed signs of increased consumption emerging from the rest of Asia, […]