Oil prices fell again after the worsening COVID-19 outbreak in India. It is raised concerns about a recovery in demand.Crude oil futures in Europe and the United States were off session lows, however, as some analysts said OPEC+ could delay a gradual increase in output. Comex West Texas Light June 2021 futures settled at $61.91 a barrel, down 23 cents, or 0.4%, from a range of $60.666 to $62.31.ICE June 2021 Brent crude settled at $65.65 a barrel, down 46 cents, or 0.7 percent, from a range of $64.57 to $66.25.
India is the world’s third largest importer of crude oil and also is a big consumer of oil.The worsening outbreak in India has gave rise to concerns about slowing growth in global oil demand. According to data released by India’s Ministry of Health on 26/April, they has recorded 352,991 new cases of coronavirus from the previous day, more than 300,000 new cases in a single day for the fifth consecutive day, .In the past week, the positive rate of coronavirus testing in New Delhi was as high as 36 to 37 percent, but that had dropped to 29%, Chief Minister K. Kejriwal said in a video press conference.Mr. Kejriwal announced that the “city lockdown” currently in place in New Delhi would be extended by a week until 5 a.m. on 3/May.
“Sentiment has been affected by the surge in new corona virus cases in some countries, particularly India, which will lead to a sharp drop in fuel demand,” Reuters quoted Kazuhikosaito, chief analyst saying.Investors, including speculators, have recently been moving money out of oil and into grains because corn and other grains have been much more volatile.”Chicago corn, wheat and soybeans hit multi-year highs last week as concerns about cold weather damage to crops in the U.S. grain belt supported prices and expectations of greater use of agricultural produce for biofuels.
Post time: May-19-2021