Oil rises 1%, Brent trades above $105

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices edged higher today, April 4, with WTI crude rising above $100 a barrel amid demand concerns as China battled a rise in coronavirus cases.

The international benchmark Brent crude was trading up 0.95% at $105.38 per barrel, at 9.50 am Makkah time.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 1% to $100.26 a barrel. The US benchmark grade slumped nearly 13% last week, recording the largest weekly loss in two years.

Vitol said over the weekend that prices had fallen to levels that did not reflect risks, including disruptions to Russian exports as the war in Ukraine continued.

Meanwhile, China is grappling with a renewed coronavirus outbreak that is weighing on oil consumption. Shanghai’s 25 million residents are almost all under some form of lockdown as the country added more than 13,000 daily infections.