Oil prices fall 4% to six-week low on lockdown worries, but don’t expect much relief at the pump yet
ICE January Brent moved $2.35 lower to settle at $78.89/b.
The price of WTI crude oil futures are settling at $76.10. That is down $2.91 or 3.68%. The high for the day reached $79.30. The low extended to $75.079.
Oil drops below $80 on European COVID concerns
Oil prices dropped below $79 a barrel on Friday as a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe threatened to slow the economic recovery while investors also weighed a potential release of crude reserves by major economies to cool energy prices.
Austria became the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full coronavirus lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of COVID-19 infections across the region that threatens to slow the recent months’ economic recovery.
Brent has surged almost 60% this year as economies bounce back from the pandemic and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, known as OPEC+, have only raised output gradually.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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