Oil prices fell nearly 1% on Thursday amid a steady increase in coronavirus infections and uncertainty in US presidential election results.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 30 cents, or 0.7%, at $40.93 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 36 cents, or 0.9%, at $38.79.
Both benchmarks jumped about 4% on Wednesday.
The European Union executive commission lowered its economic forecast, stating that no hope the economy will return to pre-virus levels until 2023.
The shocking high US crude oil data this week shows that the oil market will have to tackle the tough COVID-19 and the demand uncertainties it brings.
While Italy announced its highest infection day on Thursday, the United States broke the record last week, exceeding 100,000 infections in one day.
Britain has stepped up its bond buying incentive as it prepares for economic damage from coronavirus lockdowns and the impending risk of Brexit. The UK economy is said to be ready to an overall record shrinking of11% throughout 2020.
There is a fatigue in all markets due to renewed lockdowns, stimulus efforts to be given to the economy and possible damages.
It is thought that the lockdowns in Europe will eliminate 1.5 million barrels of demand a day.
Uncertainties continue in the US vote count. While the Democrats thought they were approaching victory, the Republicans claimed election fraud without evidence, sued and demanded a recount. The current vote count and trends show that Republicans are ready to retain control of the US Senate, while Democrats will have a weak majority in the House of Representatives.
