Further to the surprising declines in US crude oil stocks, oil prices rose on Wednesday, after some states were sufficient to offset concerns about fuel demand due to record increases in COVID-19 infections.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up by 18 cents, or 0.4%, at $43.40 a barrel by 0644 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 gained 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $41.16 a barrel.
Crude oil stocks in the United States are said to have dropped 6.8 million barrels last week to 531 million barrels. Official data will be released on Wednesday.
Concerns remain about falling fuel demand, as a record number of coronavirus cases have been reported globally, including the severe COVID-19 pandemic and the world’s largest oil consumer, the USA.
In the second half of the year, it becomes clearer that the demand recovery as expected by many people in oil is a very optimistic expectation. The resurrection in COVID-19 cases means that with continued travel restrictions, demand recovery has stopped or at least slowed down.
Coronavirus deaths reported on Tuesday for the four states scare off daily records, and cases in Texas exceeded 400,000.
A new Federal Reserve policy statement, which will be released on Wednesday afternoon, will show how serious central bankers are considering the situation, following the declaration on Tuesday to provide $ 1 trillion of new coronavirus assistance.
Hong Kong warns on Wednesday that the city was on the edge of a large-scale coronavirus epidemic, and advised people to stay at home as much as possible.
