Oil falls on coronavirus surge, unexpected U.S. crude stockpile rise
Oil prices fell on Thursday, weighed down by the surge in coronavirus cases that is hampering the global economy, along with an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Oil futures tracked with U.S. equities, which also fell on pandemic concerns. Europe is grappling with a sharp increase in infections and new social restrictions. In the United States, new cases have surpassed 100,000 per day for several days, and more than a dozen states have doubled their caseloads in the last two weeks.
Brent crude fell 27 cents to settle at $43.53 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 33 cents to settle at $41.12 a barrel.
U.S. government data added to the bearishness, as crude inventories rose by 4.3 million barrels last week, compared with an expected fall of 913,000 barrels.
Both contracts rallied this week after data showed an experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech was 90% effective, raising hopes that the pandemic will be brought under control.
Global oil demand unlikely to get vaccine boost until later in 2021, says IEA
Oil CEOs believe a demand recovery is coming, but volatility is here to stay
Top energy chief executives say oil demand will recover next year, but they expect volatility to remain elevated, as the industry emerges from the reckoning of the coronavirus pandemic.
· “We face a lot of uncertainty,” Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne told an invitation-only gathering of more than 30 senior oil and gas executives, who met virtually on Wednesday for the Abu Dhabi CEO Roundtable.
“We all hope that demand will recover as quickly as possible,” Pouyanne said. “Nobody knows exactly how long it will take to get out of the pandemic, when we’ll have this vaccine, and how long it will take to reopen the global economy,” he added
· “We should have optimism, and we should have a sense of reality,” BP CEO Bernard Looney told the gathered executives.
Reference: CNBC
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