China faces its biggest annual drop in oil demand in more than three decades as Covid-19 lockdowns and a property crisis weigh on growth in the world’s No. 2 consumer, the International Energy Agency said. Chinese oil demand will decline by 420,000 barrels a day, or 2.7%, this year in the first annual drop since a 1% retreat in 1990, the Paris-based adviser said. The pullback that year is the only previous retreat in IEA records dating back to 1984. The country has re-imposed restrictions as part of a Covid Zero strategy, with lockdowns hitting locations like megacity Chengdu , with 21 million inhabitants. Meanwhile, home prices have fallen for 11 straight months despite government relief efforts. The projected decline in China prompted the IEA to trim global oil demand forecasts in its latest monthly market report. The country has been the engine of world oil consumption during the […]