- Shanghai officials laid out the criteria they'll use to classify portions of the city as low risk for COVID as they try to end the lockdown on Sunday (BBG)
- China is increasing its purchases of Russian ESPO crude from the Far East, with some barrels potentially being stored onshore as the Covid-19 resurgence clouds the nation’s demand outlook
- Twenty of the 21 oil shipments loaded at the Far East oil port of Kozmino this month are headed for China, according to shipping analytics company Vortexa Ltd
- Meanwhile, Beijing reported a record number of new COVID cases, reviving concern that the capital may face a lockdown
- At the World Economic Forum in Davos, IEA director Faith Birol urged oil companies to behave responsibly to regulate prices or risk a global recession
- Indian oil and gas minister shared his concerns, saying that several of his country's neighbors are in "grave dire straits" as a result of rising costs
- Meanwhile, German Economy Minister Habeck has called for reforms to the laws that control energy markets to lower costs and limit Russia's profit from energy exports