Oil prices sought direction in Asian trade today after data from China's statistics office showed growth in the world's second largest economy was the weakest in half a century and the population shrank for the first time in 60 years, Reuters reported.

Still, the sharp shift in policy to deal with Covid gives hope that the economy will stabilize and oil demand will pick up.

North Sea Brent futures for March delivery rose 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $84.62 a barrel.

However, U.S. light crude fell 60 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $79.26 a barrel.

Brent has risen nearly 10 percent in the past 10 days under pressure from optimism created by China's opening up, analysts said, but added that the outlook for the rest of the world remained uncertain.

Oil continues to rise

price of oil