Oil prices continue to go down amid Russia-Ukraine talks and China's lockdowns
WTI futures dropped 8.2%, Brent fell 4.5%
• WTI futures dropped 8.2%, Brent fell 4.5%
• Ukraine Russia did not announce any new progress of diplomatic talk
Oil prices slid on Monday to the lowest in about two weeks as Ukraine and Russia held the fourth diplomatic talk.
Investors are hoping that the diplomatic efforts can progress toward an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which can boost global supplies.
However, China's pandemic-linked lockdown and travel ban cast doubt on demand.
Global oil benchmark, Brent crude May contract fell $4.91, or 4.5%, to settle at $104.73 a barrel, the lowest since March 1.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude April contract fell $8.94, or 8.2%, to settle at $100.59, the lowest since February 28.
The oil benchmarks have surged since Russia's invaded Ukraine on February 24, jumping around 36% in 2022 alone, and have logged their most volatile 30 days since June 2020.
Diplomatic talks
Although Russian and Ukrainian delegations held the fourth round of talks on Monday via video link rather than in person, the two countries did not announce any new progress.
Ukraine said it held the talks with Russia on a ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops and security guarantees.
The negotiations wrapped up later in the day, and they were expected to start up again Tuesday.
The two countries were unsuccessful in making any progress in halting the war on Thursday, the first high-level talks between the foreign ministers since the war.
In the meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov indicated that it will continue with attacks until its goals are met.
"The broad narrative he conveyed to me is that they will continue their aggression until Ukraine meets their demands, and the least of these demands is surrender," Kuleba said in the press conference.
Assessing global oil demand
A renewed COVID-19 outbreak in China is expected to reduce global energy demand since the nation is the world's largest importer of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal.
Jilin, a northeastern Chinese province, imposed a rare travel ban, prohibiting inter-province and international travel and across different areas within the region due to an Omicron outbreak.