Oil prices mixed on China hopes, global supply fears

Brent crude futures were up 10 cents at $109.8 a barrel at 0845 GMT, after falling by more than $1 earlier in the session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 69 cents to $108.9 a barrel, recovering from an early loss of more than $2.

Front-month prices for both benchmarks fell about 2.5% on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

“A slump in Wall Street soured sentiment in early trade as it underlined concerns over weakening consumption and fuel demand,” Reuters quoted Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities, as saying.

Reuters reported that Asian shares on Thursday tracked a steep Wall Street selloff as investors fretted over rising global inflation, China’s zero-COVID policy and the Ukraine war.

“Still, oil markets are keeping a bullish trend as a pending import ban by the European Union on Russian crude is expected to further tighten global supply,” Yoshida told Reuters.

The European Union this month proposed a new package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. This would include a total ban on oil imports in six months’ time, but the measures have not yet been adopted, with Hungary being among the most vocal critics of the plan.

The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday a 210 billion euro ($220 billion) plan for Europe to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, and to use the pivot away from Moscow to quicken its transition to green energy.