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Brent crude was $1.03 cents, or 1.5%, lower at $67.85 by 1002
GMT. U.S. crude was down 96 cents, or 1.4%, at $64.43 a barrel.
Germany, France and Italy plan to suspend AstraZeneca COVID-19
injections after reports of possible serious side effects,
although the World Health Organization said there was no
established link to the vaccine.
These moves are deepening concerns about a slow pace of
vaccinations in the European Union, which may delay any economic
recovery from the pandemic in one of the hardest-hit areas.
The pandemic eviscerated demand for oil but prices have
recovered to levels seen before the global health crisis, only
to be capped as vaccination rollouts have been slow in most
countries.
In the United States, stockpiles are also rising because of last
month's "big freeze" which halted refining operations that have
taken time to fully return.
"Short-term direction will be set by the weekly U.S. inventory
reports," PVM analysts said in a note, adding the strength of
the dollar against other currencies is weighing on oil prices.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, will report
crude stock pile levels later on Tuesday, followed by official
numbers from the Department of Energy on Wednesday, with
analysts expecting another week of gains.
Crude inventories increased by 12.8 million barrels in the week
to March 5, against analysts' expectations for a rise of less
than 1 million barrels.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Susan
Fenton)
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