|
The
most-active Brent crude contract for October fell 51 cents, or
1.2%, to $43.58 a barrel at 0907 GMT. The September Brent
contract, which is expiring on Friday, fell 56 cents to $43.19 a
barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 60
cents, or 1.5%, at $40.67 a barrel.
Both benchmark contracts rose on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) reported the largest one-week
fall in crude stocks since December. [EIA/S]
"The recent resurgence of the coronavirus is an ominous sign
that the upside is limited in the immediate future," Tamas Varga
of oil brokerage PVM said.
Deaths from COVID-19 topped 150,000 in the United States on
Wednesday, while Brazil, with the world's second-worst outbreak,
set daily records of confirmed cases and deaths. New infections
in Australia hit a record on Thursday.
The potential hit to the demand rebound comes just as the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its
allies, together known as OPEC+, are set to step up output in
August, adding about 1.5 million barrels per day to global
supply.
"The easing OPEC+ supply restrictions combined with the return
of some U.S. production may test the resilience of market
sentiment in the coming weeks," Stephen Innes, chief global
market strategist at AxiCorp said.
Total and Royal Dutch Shell reported small profits in the second
quarter as their oil trading businesses shielded them from the
full force of the pandemic-induced demand loss.
(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Koustav
Samanta in Singapore. Editing by Jane Merriman)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
