Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Oil falls in biggest weekly decline in months on demand worries

Published 06/08/2021, 01:54
Updated 06/08/2021, 21:25
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A petrol station attendant prepares to refuel a car in Rome, Italy, January 4, 2012. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A petrol station attendant prepares to refuel a car in Rome, Italy, January 4, 2012. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo

By Laura Sanicola

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices fell about 1% lower on Friday, posting to their steepest weekly losses in months, on worries that travel restrictions to curb the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 will derail the global recovery in energy demand.

Crude futures also came under pressure as the dollar strengthened after monthly U.S. job growth came in higher than expected. A stronger dollar makes greenback-denominated oil more expensive for buyers in other currencies.

Brent crude oil futures settled down 59 cents, or 0.8%, at $70.70, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 81, or 1.2%, to settle at $68.28 a barrel.

For the week, global benchmark Brent shed more than 6%, its largest week of losses in four months, and WTI tumbled nearly 7% in its biggest weekly decline in nine months.

"The price action we see now is really a function of the macro picture," said Howie Lee, an economist at Singapore bank OCBC. "The Delta variant is now really starting to hit home and you see risk aversion in many markets, not just oil."

U.S. President Joe Biden said that COVID-19 cases in the United States, which have climbed to a six-month high, will go up before they come down and that the new Delta variant is taking a needless toll on the country.

Japan is poised to expand emergency restrictions to more regions of the country, while China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, has imposed curbs in some cities and canceled flights.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A petrol station attendant prepares to refuel a car in Rome, Italy, January 4, 2012. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo

"Increased travel restrictions in China have come under the microscope of traders and could become a key oil price mover as this month proceeds," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates LLC in Galena, Illinois.

U.S. oil rigs rose two to 387 this week, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said. Growth in the rig count has slowed in recent months as drillers continue to focus on capital discipline.

(Additional reporting from Noah Browning Dmitry ZhdannikovEditing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)

Latest comments

delta variant prevalence is what you get when you mass-vaccinate populations with a so-called vaccine that is non-sterilizing/doesn't stop transmission. instead of science, the world has followed political propaganda.
Nut job
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.