Oil attempts to recover from year lows on Chinese demand hopes

Oil prices rose in European trade away from year lows on hopes of improving demand in China, while the dollar gives up ground ahead of the Fed's meeting. 

Prices are also buoyed by Russia's attempts to cut output to counter the EU's price ceiling on Russian crude. 

Global Prices

US crude rose 1.2% to $72.30 a barrel, while Brent added 0.7% to $76.78 a barrel, with a session-low at $75.29. 

US crude lost 0.4% on Friday, the sixth loss in a row, plumbing year lows at $70.10 a barrel, while Brent rose 0.25% to $75.16 a barrel, the lowest since December 2021. 

Global oil prices tumbled 10.8% last week, the heftiest weekly loss since March on concerns about the global economy and fuel demand. 

Chinese Demand

China continues to ease its strict Covid 19 policies, however Beijing streets remained quiet with many companies still closed. 

The government is attempting to reboot the economy once more, after a period of heavy restrictions that impacted growth and fuel demand. 

The Dollar

The dollar index fell 0.2% on Monday against a basket of major rivals, underpinning dollar-denominated commodities. 

The decline in dollar comes ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week, widely expected to increase interest rates by only 50 basis points. 

Russian Output 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia could cut production and refused to sell crude to any country to imposes a "dumb" price ceiling on Russian exports. 

Deutsche Bank said in an analysis that the recent EU measures against Russian crude will add to energy risks in the next few months, with supplies risks only subsiding by spring 2023.