oil prices rebounded from the previous week’s sharp losses with traders betting on increased demand as beijing continued to ease covid19 restrictions and open up the world’s second biggest economy   west texas intermediate crude for february delivery cl00 cl1 clg23 rose 233 or 31 to 7606 a barrel on the new york mercantile exchange   march brent crude brn00 brnh23 the global benchmark added 225 or 29 to 8082 a barrel on ice futures europe   back on nymex february gasoline rbg23 advanced 34 to 23208 a gallon while february heating oil hog23 tacked on 27 to 30858 a gallon oil prices rose sharply on monday as traders hoped that beijing’s further easing of covid19 restrictions would open up china’s economy the world’s biggest crude importer and help boost energy demand “oil prices are finally catching a flyer over the china border reopening as the removal of local restrictions interintraprovincial mobility normalization lifting of border restrictions between chinahkmacau and international travel reopening are strong tailwinds for oil markets” said stephen innes managing partner at spi asset management the rally comes after both brent and west texas intermediate fell more than 8 last week on worries about a global economic downturn and as warmer weather in the northern hemisphere was seen reducing heating demand however investors concerns about a hard economic landing for the us have abated since friday’s jobs data which suggested the labor market could stay relatively healthy and wage inflation ease at the same time the improved sentiment has boosted traders’ risk appetite hitting the dollar and thus providing additional support to commodity prices such as crude that are denominated in the greenback