Oil drops on worries about lockdowns in China, release of reserves | Reuters

Oil drops on worries about lockdowns in China, release of reserves | Reuters

Oil prices dropped more than $2 a barrel on Monday, following a second straight weekly decline after world consumers announced plans to release a record volume of crude and oil products from strategic stocks and as China's lockdowns continued.

Brent crude was down $2.05, or 2.0%, at $100.73 a barrel by 0620 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost $2.17, or 2.2%, to $96.09. Last week, Brent dropped 1.5% while U.S. oil slid 1%. For several weeks, the benchmarks have been at their most volatile since June 2020.

The market has been watching developments in China, where authorities have kept Shanghai, a city of 26 million people, locked down under its "zero tolerance" policy for COVID-19. China is the world's biggest oil importer.

Anxiety about China's growth was the main reason for the fall in oil prices on the day with Shanghai's lockdown showing no signs of being lifted and Guangzhou looking to start mass virus testing, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.