Early on Friday, oil continued the fall due to the climbing US new coronavirus cases this week which surged the probability of a second outbreak wave.
At 00.11 GMT, US WTI plunged by almost 4% or USD1.32 to USD35.02/barrel after nosediving by more than 8% on Thursday. Brent crude oil futures shrank by 3% or USD1.15 to USD37.40/barrel when it lost almost 8% on the previous day.
Oil benchmarks are heading in for the first weekly fall in seven weeks as the market faces the fact that the pandemic is still far from over globally. So far, Brent has shredded 12% while WTI declined by more than 10%.
RBC Capital Markets said that the market needs a more sustainable rally which includes aspects such as improved gasoline demand, reduced inventories, and increased product margins.
Demand has not yet fully recovered, even remains constrained by the outbreak. US crude stockpiles skyrocketed by a record of 5.7 million barrels to 538.1 million barrels. Gasoline inventories climbed by more than expected to 258.6 million barrels.
Meanwhile, worries increase as some US states such as Texas and Arizona are struggling with the soaring number of coronavirus patients.
