The largest source of infection is the metropolis of Shanghai. More than 26,000 new corona infections were reported there yesterday, despite strict lockdown measures. The lockdown has already caused disruptions in the city’s port.
Oil prices had risen sharply since the war in Ukraine, fueling inflation. This undermines the purchasing power of households and damages the economy.
At the end of last week, the member states of the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that they would bring a record number of barrels from their strategic oil reserves on the market in the coming six months. In total, this concerns 240 million barrels. The United States and other member states such as Japan, Germany and the Netherlands want to reduce oil prices in this way.
The price of a barrel of US oil fell 2.4 percent this morning around 7:30 a.m. to $95.94. The highest price reached on February 23, the day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was $93.90. Brent oil, the benchmark for oil from the Middle East, Europe and Africa, dropped 2.3 percent at $100.46 a barrel.