Situation in Shanghai reminiscent of Indians’ suffering after sudden nationwide lockdown in 2020 | #ukscams | #datingscams | #european

Lockdowns, whether on this side of the border or the other, are horrible. But ironically, the Chinese lockdowns have brought some respite to India in arresting the relentless rise in the price of petroleum products. The Shanghai lockdown has even affected the outlook for oil as demand has dropped sharply.

World crude oil prices have already slipped up to 6 percent on fears of lower demand and the current price forecast is in the vicinity of $90 per barrel, as against $120 and upwards only weeks ago.

The Chinese deterrent has come at a time when the world was struggling to hold the price of oil to reasonable levels so as not to jeopardise the slow recovery in the global economy after the serious fallout of the pandemic. Releases from the strategic reserve by the US and other countries with a major say in determining petroleum prices were of no avail as the crude prices refused to be tamed.

The opportunistic approach by the Saudi Arabia-led oil cartel saw to it that there would be no extra easing of the taps, putting further pressure on the upward momentum. In fact, US President Joe Biden’s widely reported request to Saudi Arabia for help in controlling prices met with an embarrassing no from the Saudi authorities, which has even further strained the relations between the two countries.

In fact, the response of the Gulf oil producers to Russia’s Ukraine invasion has been moderated by the oil cartel’s common cause with Moscow, which is one of the biggest players in the oil economy. Ukraine developments, including the western sanctions as well as retaliatory strikes by Putin, have been responsible for the recent price crisis in petroleum products.

In this respect, the Chinese lockdowns have come as a counter-balance, bringing relief to oil importing countries as well as to the major stakeholders such as the US in their bid to keep prices under check.

The downward pull in crude is also having a bearish influence in the rest of the energy mix.