NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped about 8% on Monday to the lowest in two weeks, as diplomatic efforts between Ukraine and Russia looked like they might end their conflict, which would boost global supplies, while a pandemic-linked travel ban in China cast doubt on the demand outlook.
Brent futures fell $8.64, or 7.7%, to $104.03 a barrel by 10:59 a.m. EDT (1459 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $8.74, or 8.0%, to $100.59.
That puts both benchmarks on track for their lowest settlements since Feb. 28. Both have surged since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and are up roughly 34% so far this year.
“Beside new talks between Ukraine and Russia, I guess new lockdowns in China are the reason for a negative start of the week for crude oil,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS, a bank.
Brent and WTI have logged their most volatile 30 days since June 2020. WTI had it most volatile month in April 2020 when prices turned negative, while Brent experienced its most volatile month in January 1991 during the Persian Gulf War.