Oil Plummets over Worrying China Data and Impending EU Ban on Russian Oil

Oil prices plunged on Monday alongside stocks in Asia as less-than-favorable data from China could potentially douse demand for fuel while the European Union progresses with its proposed plan to ban Russian oil imports in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

As per Reuters, Brent crude edged lower by 0.4% to $111.98 a barrel by 0603 GMT. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also dropped by 0.5% to $109.24 a barrel.

Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets, said, "The broader risk-off sentiment sparked by the recession fears, and China's lockdowns are the major factors that pressure the oil price."

World markets of late have also been affected by the prospects of aggressive interest rates and the resulting possibility of an economic recession, spurred by the COVID-19 lockdowns in China which have pushed April’s export growth in the country to its lowest levels since mid-2020 — a significant blow to the world’s second-largest economy reported Reuters.