LONDON: Oil prices plunged on Tuesday as major crude consumer China placed nearly 30 million people under Covid lockdown and traders tracked the latest developments in Ukraine and Iran nuclear talks.

Hong Kong and Chinese mainland stock markets closed sharply lower while European equities finished in the red.

Wall Street, however, was higher in midday deals.

Crude futures slumped under $100 per barrel just a week after benchmark contract Brent North Sea soared to a 14-year high close to $140 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The main international contract, Brent North Sea crude, was back above $100 later in the day but still more than five percent lower.

“We have good news and we have bad news,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

“The good news is that oil prices are down sharply... The bad news is that the big drop in oil prices is due to growth concerns which, by extension, don’t bode well for earnings growth prospects,” O’Hare said.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2022