Oil prices fell for a second day in early Asian trade on Thursday, as fears about geopolitical tensions eased and a surge in Covid-19 cases in China worsened demand concerns in the world’s top crude importer.
Brent crude futures dropped by 82 cents, or 0.88%, to $92.04 a barrel as of 9.41 A.M. (thai time). West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 93 cents, or 1.09%, to $84.66 a barrel.
On Wednesday, Brent fell 1.1% and WTI slid 1.5% after Russian oil shipments to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline resumed.
“Crude oil fell after NATO cleared Russia’s missile attack on Poland, while demand concerns (are) back to trader’s focus amid ongoing China’s COVID curbs and gloomy global economic outlooks,” said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets.
Poland and NATO said on Wednesday that a missile that hit Poland was most likely a stray fired by Ukraine’s air defenses rather than a Russian strike, alleviating fears that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine may spill over the border.
