LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Monday as coronavirus cases rose in many countries around the world, but investors remained cautiously optimistic about ongoing talks about a recovery fund across the European Union. to revive the economies affected by the pandemic.
FILE PHOTO: Bomb jacks are seen during sunset at Daqing Oil Field in Heilongjiang Province, China, August 22, 2019. REUTERS / Stringer
Brent LCOc1 crude fell 19 cents, or 0.4%, to $ 42.95 per barrel at 0845 GMT, and US oil fell 19 cents, or 0.5%, to $ 40.40 per barrel.
“As things stand, prices are not likely to produce significant gains very soon, until there is a sign that the pandemic is slowing down. And although the virus has been cornered in Europe, the Americas and some Asian states still have a long way to go, ”said Rystad Energy’s chief of oil markets, Bjornar Tonhaugen.
More than 14.5 million people have been infected with the new coronavirus globally, and more than 604,000 have died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the pathogen, according to a Reuters count.
Investors await the EU summit for trade signals, and leaders are showing the first signs of commitment to splitting a proposed € 750bn ($ 858.30bn) recovery fund to revive economies.
Japan’s oil imports fell 14.7% in June from the same month the year before, official figures showed on Monday. The decline was not as steep as in May, when they fell 25% year-over-year. [O/JAPAN1]
Also underscoring the impact of the virus, Japan’s exports fell 26.2% in June from a year earlier, data from the finance ministry showed on Monday.
While fuel demand has rebounded from a 30% drop in April after countries around the world imposed strict blockades, usage is still below pre-pandemic levels. Retail demand for gasoline in the United States drops again as infections increase.
In the United States, power drillers reduced the number of oil and natural gas platforms that operated to a record for the eleventh consecutive week, data showed on Friday. [RIG/U]
The increasing tension between China and the United States also put pressure on prices.
The Chinese embassy in Myanmar on Sunday accused the United States of “scandalously smearing” the country and creating a gap with its Southeast Asian neighbors over the disputed South China Sea and Hong Kong.
The Saudi Arabian ruler, 84, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has been admitted to the hospital and suffers from inflammation of the gallbladder. The king has ruled the world’s largest exporter of crude oil and a close ally of the United States since 2015.
Reports by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, additional reports by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
.
