Oil Falls $7 on Russia-Ukraine Talk Hopes, China Lockdowns

A worker collects a crude oil sample at an oil well operated by Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA in Morichal, Venezuela, on July 28, 2011. Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

LONDON—Oil prices fell around $7 a barrel on Monday as investors pinned hopes on diplomatic efforts between Ukraine and Russia to end their conflict, while a surge in COVID-19 cases in China spooked the markets.

Brent was down by $6.78, or 6 percent, at $105.89 a barrel at 1358 GMT and U.S. crude fell $7.01, or 6.4 percent, to $102.32.