Oil prices change amid rising coronavirus cases

  04 December 2021    Read: 1187
Oil prices change amid rising coronavirus cases

Crude prices ended little changed on Friday after erasing earlier big gains on growing worries that rising coronavirus cases and a new variant could reduce global oil demand, AzVision.az reports citing Reuters. 

Earlier in the day, oil prices climbed more than $2 a barrel after producer group OPEC+ said it could review its policy to hike output at short notice if a rising number of pandemic lockdowns chokes off demand.

Brent futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $69.88 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended 24 cents, or 0.4%, lower at $66.26.

Both benchmarks declined for a sixth week in a row for the first time since November 2018, and both remained in technically oversold territory for a sixth straight day for the first time since September 2020.

"Plenty of places to point to blame for the big pullback in energy," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York, noting coronavirus cases are rising, the U.S. jobs report was a disappointment and OPEC+ stuck with its plan to increase output in January.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, surprised the market on Thursday when it stuck to its plans to add 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) supply in January.


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