2023.03.0609:04:00UTC+00Oil Prices Decline On China Concerns

Oil prices were moving lower on Monday after top consumer China set a modest annual growth target for 2023.

Benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.9 percent to $85.03 per barrel, while WTI crude futures were down 0.8 percent at $79.05.

China set a moderate growth target of around 5.0 percent for this year at the annual legislative session on Sunday in line with a global slowdown.

The was down below last year's target of 5.5 percent and came in at the lower end of expectations.

The second largest economy in the world grew only 3.0 percent in 2022, marking the weakest expansion in decades.

Investors were also reacting to reports suggesting that Poland's PKN Orlen will demand compensation after Russia halted oil deliveries to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline in late February.

"Russians stopped pumping oil to Poland...so we will now take legal action and demand claims," CEO Daniel Obajtek told private Radio Zet.

The dollar edged lower in early European trade as investors awaited a testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the U.S. jobs report this week for further clarity on the rate outlook.