On Tuesday, oil prices went down as the surge of new infections of coronavirus, mainly in the US, has darkened the prospect of fuel demand.
At 07.03 GMT, Brent crude oil futures slumped by 1.3% or 56 cents to USD42.54/barrel after reaching an intraday high of USD43.19/barrel. US WTI also plunged by 1.3% or 54 cents to USD40.09/barrel after the earlier high of USD40.79/barrel.
Some US states have been readjusting their opening of economies reacting to the new surges of new infections including Florida. Other regions in the world are also seeing similar developments.
According to ANZ, the summer driving demand in the US is low, maintaining the subdued gasoline demand.
Moreover, a court decision on Monday ordered the closing of the Dakota Access pipeline, which is the largest key transporting crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken shale basin to Midwest and Gulf Coast regions on the background of environmental issues.
Analyst Jeffrey Halley of OANDA opined that oil is marooned in a range-trading mode as the optimisms of recovery in Asia and Europe are balanced by the concerns in the US and other parts of the world. “At the moment, it lacks the momentum to strongly move one way of the other,” he said.
