Second COVID Wave In China Could Upend Crude Recovery

As the world’s largest net importer of crude oil and other liquids since September 2013, any significant variation in Chinese demand for oil resonates quickly and profoundly in global oil pricing. Having come out of lockdown against COVID-19 earlier than most other countries, China’s oil demand has already recovered very quickly, to over 90 per cent of pre-coronavirus outbreak levels, supporting crude oil pricing. However, June saw a new outbreak of COVID-19 in Beijing, after 50 days without a new case being recorded, prompting fears…