China growth fears over Covid surge pushes oil below $100 a barrel

• Chinese stock markets fell sharply overnight for the third session in a row and oil has dropped below $100 a barrel as surging coronavirus cases raised concerns about the impact on growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
• Fears of a downturn in China pushed Brent crude, the global benchmark price, to close to $100 a barrel earlier today but just before noon it slid to $98 a barrel, down 8 per cent, after Russia indicated that it was in favour of the Iran nuclear deal resuming as soon as possible.
• A deal would lead to sanctions on Iran’s oil sector being lifted, boosting supply.
• The price of oil is now at a three-week low after volatile trading following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

 

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