Oil Recovers From a 3-Week Low

Oil prices rose more than one percent, offsetting some of the losses incurred in the previous session when prices hit their lowest level in three weeks, but the gains were likely limited by fears that the rise in Covid-19 cases and the imposition of restrictions in China will negatively affect fuel demand.

Brent crude rose 84 cents, or 1.2%, to $69.88 a barrel by 0656 GMT, after falling 2.3 percent on Monday. US crude rose 99 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $1 a barrel, after plummeting 2.6 percent in the previous session.

Today, China announced more Covid-19 cases in the latest outbreak of the disease that was first revealed in the country in late 2019, in what analysts say is the biggest test facing Beijing’s strategy to bring infections to zero.

And some cities in China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, have stepped up extensive testing as authorities seek to stop locally transmitted infections of the delta strain of the Coronavirus.