WTI has made a round trip on OPEC+ statements

• The price of oil made a round trip at the start of the week.
• OPEC+ said there was no need to release more oil.
•  Lower industrial activity in China and weaker refining demand in July has weighed on oil.

At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is making back some of the ground lost following a series of events at the start of the week that has weighed on the outlook for demand. 

WTI is trading near $67.50 following a drop from $68.25 that had reached a low of $65.76 overnight. 

News that China reported lower industrial activity and weaker refining demand in July weighed on prices. 

The amount of oil refined fell to the lowest since May, 2020 as its government tightened import quotas.

At the same time, the spread of the covid variant is forcing consuming nations such as China to re-impose strict lockdown measures and travel restrictions.

''Energy market participants are closely watching for cues on whether China's 'Zero-Covid' strategy could quickly contain outbreaks,'' analysts at TD Securities said.

''The aggressive containment strategy does appear to be working its way through the data, even against the delta-variant. This trend in the Covid-19 data is a positive signal for energy demand, as a persistent improvement would suggest that global mobility disruptions could be short-lived.''

''Ultimately, uncertainty surrounding energy demand remains particularly elevated, but still-recovering global mobility data outside of China, along with continued strength in air travel data, signal that much of the potential bad news has been absorbed by the market,'' the analysts argued. 

Meanwhile, oil prices rebounded on news that sources from OPEC+ said there was no need to release more oil despite US pressure to add supplies to check an oil price rise.

In July, OPEC+ agreed to increase output by 400,000 barrels per day a month.

This started in August and is supposed to go on until its current oil output reductions of 5.8 million bpd are fully phased out.

''Two of the OPEC+ sources said the latest data from OPEC and from the West’s energy watchdog - the International Energy Agency (IEA) - also indicated there was no need for extra oil,'' Reuters explained.