OIL DROPS 3% - OPEC says rising infections may delay oil recovery
Oil drops 3% as virus infections, Libyan oil output rebound
Oil prices fell more than 3% on Monday, extending last week’s losses as coronavirus cases continued to surge in the United States and Europe, while Libya’s rebound in crude production raised fears of oversupply.
The United States reported its highest number yet of new coronavirus infections in two days through Saturday, while in France new cases hit a record of more than 50,000 on Sunday. Italy and Spain imposed fresh restrictions to curb the virus.
“It’s a dark Monday in the oil market,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy. “We have long warned that a ‘second wave’ of strict coronavirus restriction measures could be re-imposed, and it’s now happening for real.”
Brent LCOc1 dropped $1.31, or 3.1%, to settle at $40.46 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell $1.29, or 3.2%, to settle at $38.56 a barrel. Both contracts fell almost 2.5% last week.
OPEC chief says rising infections may delay oil recovery
OPEC’s secretary general said on Monday an oil market recovery may take longer than hoped as coronavirus inflections rise around the world, and OPEC and its allies would “stay the course” in balancing the market.
“We were hopeful the second half of 2020 would begin to see a recovery,” Barkindo said. “Unfortunately, both the economic growth and demand recovery remain anaemic at the moment due largely to the virus.”
Libya’s ramped-up oil output throws another wrench at oil prices and OPEC’s plans
Reference: Reuters
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