China has seen a surge in Covid cases
Letter from Beijing: Covid relapse threatens demand
China’s rebounding appetite for energy is being undermined by fresh lockdowns and quarantine measures
China’s worst Covid outbreak in two years is pushing its zero-tolerance policy to the limit, with implications for fuel and energy demand if Beijing cannot bring the latest surge under control quickly. The Omicron outbreak—China’s most serious since the initial crisis first erupted in Wuhan in early 2020—has spread to more than half of the country, with domestically transmitted, symptomatic cases detected in 20 of 31 provinces. The cumulative total of domestic cases so far this year has now exceeded 37,000, compared with 8,378 for all of 2021, with some 33,000 infections registered in March alone. The rising case numbers are a fraction of those for other major economies—the US reported 20,00
Also in this section
19 August 2025
ExxonMobil’s MOU with SOCAR, unveiled in Washington alongside the peace agreement with Armenia, highlights how the Karabakh net-zero zone is part of a wider strategic realignment
19 August 2025
OPEC and the IEA have very different views on where the oil market is headed, leaving analysts wondering which way to jump
15 August 2025
US secondary sanctions are forcing a rapid reassessment of crude buying patterns in Asia, and the implications could reshape pricing, freight and supply balances worldwide. With India holding the key to two-thirds of Russian seaborne exports, the stakes could not be higher
11 August 2025
The administration is pushing for deregulation and streamlined permitting for natural gas, while tightening requirements and stripping away subsidies from renewables
