SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices were go down on Monday in volatile trade, reversing some gains from the previous session as markets braced for new mass COVID testing in China potentially hitting demand, a concern that outweighed ongoing concerns about tight supply.
Brent crude futures fell $1.29, or 1.2%, to $105.73 at 0900 GMT, after climbing 2.3% on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined by $1.78, or 1.7%, to $103.01, paring a 2% gain from Friday.
The market was rattled by news that China had discovered its first case of a highly transmissible Omicron subvariant in Shanghai and that new cases had jumped to 63 in the country’s largest city from 52 a day earlier.
