LONDON (Reuters) – Brent crude oil prices fell as high as $ 1 a barrel on Monday, expressing renewed concern about global fuel demand amid a tough coronavirus lockdown, as well as a stronger US dollar. Has gone.
Brent was down 57 cents, or 1%, at $ 55.42 per barrel at 1205 GMT, down from $ 1 at $ 54.99 the previous session’s low.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped 26 cents, or 0.5%, to $ 51.98 a barrel.
Comerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said, “The greater number of new Corona cases and renewed concerns about demand due to further mobility restrictions, and the more robust US dollar, are causing selling pressure.”
According to the Reuters tally, there are more than 90 million cases of coronovirus worldwide.
Despite a strict national lockdown, Britain faces the worst weeks of the epidemic, and cases are still increasing in Germany.
“Improvement in oil demand is stalling due to prolonged lockdown, especially in Europe. Spike in Kovid-19 cases in the country is also raising concerns over China’s demand, as traders fear new lockdown, ”Said Björnar Tonhaugen, analyst at Risted Energy.
Mainland China saw its biggest daily increase in virus infections in more than five months, officials said, as new infections grew in Hebei, which surrounds the capital Beijing.
Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital and epicenter of the new outbreak, is in lockdown, with people and vehicles barred from leaving, as authorities have sought to rein in the spread.
For a graphic on New Curse for braking traffic in Shijiazhuang:
A stronger dollar, supported by hopes of more stimulus to boost the world’s largest economy, also weighed on oil prices.
The price of oil is usually in dollars, so a strong dollar makes crude oil more expensive for buyers with other currencies.
Brent and WTI rose nearly 8% last week, backing Saudi Arabia’s pledge to cut voluntary oil production of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March, a deal for most OPEC + producers Was stable as
Analysts say the oil market is expected to make losses by 2021 due to the Saudi cut.
JBC Energy Research said on Monday that adequate prevention measures to curb the virus introduced by European countries, JBC Energy Research said, “We estimate that this latest Saudi production cut will solidify the raw fundamentals Should be enough to keep.
Reporting by Björmehr Sharafedin in London. Additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore. Editing by Mark Potter and Jane Merriman
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