After China opened its borders, Brent crude futures rose $1.08, or 1.4%, to settle at $79.65 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 86 cents, or 1.2%, to $74.63 a barrel.
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Oil climbed more than 1%, with optimism about demand after China opened its borders
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday after China opened its borders, which supported fuel demand expectations and hedged the impact of fears of a global recession.
The recovery is part of a broader increase in risk appetite, supported by the action of China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, and the hope of slowing down the pace of rate hikes in the United States, with the rise in shares and the decline of the dollar.
Brent crude futures rose $1.08, or 1.4%, to settle at $79.65 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 86 cents, or 1.2%, to $74.63 a barrel.
The recovery came after last week’s declines of more than 8% in the prices of the two benchmarks, in their biggest weekly drop at the start of a new year since 2016.
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As part of a “new phase” of the war against “COVID-19”, China opened its borders over the weekend for the first time in three years. The number of domestic flights is expected to reach two billion during the Lunar New Year season, nearly double last year’s traffic and regaining 70% of 2019 levels, Beijing says.
Even though oil prices rallied on Monday, there are still fears that this massive influx of travelers will lead to a further rise in Covid-19 infections while remaining economic concerns looming.
