File photo: A pump jack used to help lift crude oil from a well in Texas.
TOKYO: Oil prices fell 1% on Thursday as India s coronavirus crisis deepened, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after the IEA and OPEC forecast a rebound in global demand.
Brent crude was down 74 cents, or 1.1%, at $68.58 a barrel by 0655 GMT, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 75 cents, or 1.1%, to $65.33 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session. The path for crude prices appears to be higher but until the situation improves in India, WTI will probably struggle to break above the early March high, Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
IEA sees oil demand recovery outpacing growth in supply
Oil demand is already outstripping supply and the shortfall is expected to widen even if Iran boosts exports as vaccinations against COVID-19 bolster the global economy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.
“The anticipated supply growth through the rest of this year comes nowhere close to matching our forecast for significantly stronger demand beyond the second quarter,” the IEA said in its monthly report, citing increased pumping from OPEC+ countries.
Output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, the so-called OPEC+ group of producers, lagged demand by around by 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter, IEA said.
Oil drops as India’s COVID crisis puts brakes on rally
Oil prices fell 1% on Thursday as India’s coronavirus crisis deepened, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after the IEA and OPEC forecast a rebound in global demand.
Brent crude was down 74 cents, or 1.1%, at $68.58 a barrel by 0655 GMT, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 75 cents, or 1.1%, to $65.33 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session.
“The path for crude prices appears to be higher but until the situation improves in India, WTI will probably struggle to break above the early March high,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
TOKYO: Oil prices fell on Thursday, pulling back from an eight-week high as concerns about the coronavirus crisis in India, the world’s third-biggest importer of crude, tempered a rally driven by IEA and OPEC predictions that demand is coming back strongly.
Brent crude was down 66 cents, or 1 percent, at $68.66 a barrel by 4:44 a.m. GMT, after gaining 1 percent on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 67 cents, or 1 percent, to $65.41 a barrel, having risen 1.2 percent in the previous session.
“The path for crude prices appears to be higher but until the situation improves in India, WTI will probably struggle to break above the early March high,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
Oil prices rose to an eight-week high on Wednesday as U.S. crude exports plunged and on signs of a speedy economic recovery and upbeat forecasts for energy demand.