(Reuters] Oil prices dropped in Asian trading early on Tuesday, after a continuation of Chinese lockdowns and world consumers’ announcements to let go of strategic stocks.

At 2202 GMT, Brent fell 38 Cents to $102.40 per barrel and lost 16 Cents to $98.18 Brent declined 1.5%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 1%. The benchmarks have been volatile for several weeks since June 2020.

Markets have been closely following developments in China. Authorities have placed Shanghai, home to 26 million residents, under “zero tolerance” COVID-19. China is the largest oil importer in the world.

The International Energy Agency’s member nations will each release 60,000,000 barrels in the coming six months. In March, the United States announced a 180 million barrel release.

The announcement could deter some producers (including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC), and U.S. shale producer) from accelerating production increases even at prices of around $100 a bar, ANZ Research analysts stated in a note.

However, the OPEC+ Group of Oil Exporting Countries has shown no desire to exceed the 400,000 barrels per Day it adds each month as part of a recovery of supply.

The IEA releases would provide approximately 2,000,000 barrels per day of supply over the next two months, and an additional 1 million bpd for the United States four months later. This will not compensate the loss in Russian crude following heavy sanctions on that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s oil production fell by 10.52million barrels per day (bpd), from 11.01 million in March.