Oil Prices Are Plunging, Curve Crashes Into Contango | ZeroHedge
Oil prices are plunging this morning as futures contracts roll with the Jan 23 WTI contract price trading with a $77 handle. There's little fresh news, but analysts say the rise in COVID-19 cases in China has renewed worries about energy demand. China's State Council warned cities to avoid "irresponsible loosening" of COVID-19 measures, according to the South China Morning Post. "Commodity markets have been under pressure as China's zero-COVID strategy has strangled economic growth. Without any signs of softening, commodity markets had factored-in that status quo for the foreseeable future. Looser quarantine rules suggest an end to the restrictions are closer than we thought," ANZ Bank said in a note. Additionally, recession concerns have dominated recent oil market trading even with the European Union's ban on Russian crude approaching and OPEC's efforts to tighten supply. Traders expecting a looming European ban on Russian oil to juice prices have been surprised: physical crudes are 
Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request.

### Instruction: Oil Prices Are Plunging, Curve Crashes Into Contango | ZeroHedge

### Response: Oil prices are plunging this morning as futures contracts roll with the Jan 23 WTI contract price trading with a $77 handle. There's little fresh news, but analysts say the rise in COVID-19 cases in China has renewed worries about energy demand. China's State Council warned cities to avoid "irresponsible loosening" of COVID-19 measures, according to the South China Morning Post. "Commodity markets have been under pressure as China's zero-COVID strategy has strangled economic growth. Without any signs of softening, commodity markets had factored-in that status quo for the foreseeable future. Looser quarantine rules suggest an end to the restrictions are closer than we thought," ANZ Bank said in a note. Additionally, recession concerns have dominated recent oil market trading even with the European Union's ban on Russian crude approaching and OPEC's efforts to tighten supply. Traders expecting a looming European ban on Russian oil to juice prices have been surprised: physical crudes are 