Oil started the week with a 6% dip

Oil prices closed the first trading session of the week with significant losses after last year’s rally, as worries about demand from the world’s largest importer China and the jump in the dollar brought sellers back to the forefront.

In particular, Brent’s July contract ended with losses 5.74% or $ 6.45 with its price falling to $ 105.94 the barrel.

Similarly, the June WTI recorded losses 6% or $ 6.68 with its price to complete the transactions in $ 103.09 the barrel.

The rise of the dollar to a new high of twenty years discourages crude markets as usual, making it more expensive for holders of other currencies.

At the same time, global financial markets appear to have been terrified by rising interest rates and fears of an impending recession, as tighter lockdowns in China slowed exports to the world’s second-largest economy in April.

In Russia, according to statements made by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, oil production increased in early May and has now stabilized, following the slowdown in April in the wake of Western sanctions for invading Ukraine.

In China, however, crude imports fell 4.8% in the first four months from a year earlier, but rose almost 7% in April.

On the supply front, the world’s leading oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, cut crude prices for Asia and Europe in June.

On the other hand, the Commission proposal to impose a European embargo on Russian oil is still under consultation, as a unanimous agreement between the Member States is required.

In the latest development, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that progress has been made following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has expressed reservations about imposing an embargo.

The G7 countries, however, have pledged to phase out imports of Russian oil, with Japan saying it would ban imports of Russian crude oil “in principle”.