Oil dropped for a third day after data showed a rise in US stockpiles and investors fretted over an uneven recovery in global demand, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.
As of 8:34 (GMT+4), the price of June futures for North Sea Brent oil blend decreased by 0.46 percent - to $65.02, while the cost of June futures for WTI oil fell by 0.47 percent, to $61.06 per barrel.
While the stock markets were able to interrupt the downtrend, oil prices continued to fall for the third day in a row. During this time, oil prices fell by 3-3.5 percent. The main risks are associated with the continuation of the coronavirus epidemic in India and Japan, the world’s largest oil importers. Japanese authorities are considering tightening quarantine restrictions.
“Asia, especially India, is becoming the epicenter of all fears surrounding demand,” said Steve Innes, chief market strategist at Axi. Still, “macros are pretty strong globally,” he added, flagging prospects for improved consumption over the northern hemisphere summer, aided by US driving season.
An additional factor in the oil price reduction is the US Department of Energy’s statistics on reserves, published on April 21. Commercial oil reserves in the country for the week through April 16 unexpectedly rose by 0.6 million barrels, although analysts had expected a decline of 2.9 million barrels. Weekly production remained at 11 million barrels per day.