Crude Oil Ease To $103.5 Per Barrel Due To Low Demand

Brent Crude: Oil  fell 3% to around $103.5 per barrel on Monday, hitting their lowest in nearly 2 weeks, amid mounting concerns that prolonged Covid lockdowns in China and rapid rate hikes in the US would weigh on global economic growth and fuel demand.

Monday’s slump extended a nearly 5% drop in the UK oil benchmark last week as demand concerns outweighed worries over tight global supply. China’s demand for gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel in April is expected to decline 20% YoY,

Bloomberg reported, which is equivalent to a drop in crude oil consumption of about 1.2 million barrels a day.

In the US, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that a half-point interest rate increase “will be on the table” when the Fed meets in May to approve the next in what is expected to be a series of rate hikes this year.

Meanwhile, investors remained cautious as the worsening crisis in Ukraine could pressure the EU to sanction Russian oil and spur another rally