Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday as concerns about outlook for energy demand amid a surge in coronavirus cases in China and fresh curbs imposed in some areas in the country.
The dollar's sharp rise amid expectations of sharp interest rate hikes weighed as well on crude oil prices.
The dollar index climbed to a fresh near two-decade peak at $108.19 before easing slightly to 108.02, still holding firm with a gain of nearly 1% over last closing level.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.70 or about 0.7% at $104.90 a barrel.
Brent crude futures, which ended the session with a small gain of 0.07% at $107.10 a barrel, were down $0.24 or 0.22% at $106.78 a barrel a little while ago.
According to reports, several Chinese cities are adopting fresh Covid-19 curbs with the commercial hub of Shanghai bracing for another mass testing campaign after detecting the highly transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant over the weekend.
Investors are looking ahead to a slew of U.S. economic data this week, including reports on consumer and producer price inflation for additional clues on the outlook for interest rates.
