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Brent crude was down 10 cents, or 0.2%, at $66.67 a barrel by
1018 GMT, after rising 6% last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
U.S. oil was down 8 cents, or 0.1%, at $63.05 a barrel, having
gained 6.4% last week.
India reported a record rise in coronavirus infections on Monday
which lifted overall cases to just over 15 million, making the
country the second-worst affected after the United States, which
has reported more than 31 million infections.
Deaths from COVID-19 in India also rose by a record 1,619 to
nearly 180,000.
The capital region of Delhi ordered a six-day lockdown on
Monday, joining around 13 other states across the country that
have decided to impose restrictions, curfews or lockdowns in
their cities.
"This new wave of measures, while so far likely to be less
stringent than what we saw in March 2020, when gasoline and
gasoil/diesel demand in the country fell by close to 60%, is
nevertheless set to weigh on transportation fuel consumption,"
consultancy JBC said.
Hong Kong will suspend flights from India, Pakistan and the
Philippines from April 20 due to imported coronavirus
infections, authorities said in a statement on Sunday.
A weaker dollar kept a floor under oil prices. The U.S. currency
traded near a one-month low versus major peers on Monday, with
Treasury yields hovering near the weakest in five weeks.
With oil priced in dollars, a weaker greenback could spur demand
from holders of other currencies, boosting prices.
JP Morgan now expects Brent prices to break the $70 mark by May,
compared with September in their previous forecast, the bank
said in a recent note. It still expects them to finish the year
at a similar level of about $74.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by
Jan Harvey)
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