Crude oil rose to its highest level in eight weeks after the IEA and OPEC predicted a recovery in global demand. However, oil prices fell 1% on Thursday as India’s coronavirus crisis deepened.
Brent crude oil, which rose 1% on Wednesday, fell 74 cents, or 1.1%, to $ 68.58 a barrel at 0655 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which rose 1.2% in the previous session, fell 75 cents, or 1.1%, to $ 65.33 a barrel.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday that demand for oil is above supply and the deficit is expected to increase even if Iran increases exports.
Global concerns are growing about the situation in India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, where a variant of the coronavirus devastates rural areas. Medical professionals do not know when new infections will plateau.
Some other countries are concerned about the contagiousness of the variant, which is now spreading around the world.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) adheres to the forecast that world oil demand will return strongly in 2021, as growth in China and the United States counteracts the impact of the coronavirus crisis in India.
Meanwhile, six days after the closure of the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline network in the US, the fuel shortage in the southeast of the United States is getting worse.
Colonial, pumping more than 2.5 million barrels of fuel a day, said he hopes to commission most of the grid by the end of the week.
While the downtime is meaningful for local retail markets, the impact will be temporary as there is no physical damage to the pipeline.
