Oil plunges to 2-week low on US inventory shock, rise in COVID-19 cases

Oil plunges to 2-week low on US inventory shock, rise in COVID-19 cases

Brent crude dropped 94 cents, or 1.1%, to $83.64 a barrel by 0655 GMT, having hit a two-week low of $82.32 earlier and fallen by 2.1% in the previous session.







Reuters









October 28, 2021 / 12:49 PM IST





Oil prices slumped to their lowest in two weeks after official figures showed a surprise jump in U.S. inventories of crude, and rising cases of COVID-19 in Europe, Russia, and some outbreaks of infections in China dented hopes for an economic recovery.

Brent crude dropped 94 cents, or 1.1%, to $83.64 a barrel by 0655 GMT, having hit a two-week low of $82.32 earlier and fallen by 2.1% in the previous session.

U.S. oil was down 89 cents, also a 1.1% drop, at $81.77 a barrel – a one-week low after dropping 2.4% on Wednesday.

Outbreaks of coronavirus infections in China and record deaths and the threat of lockdowns in Russia, along with rising cases in western Europe were putting the brakes on a multi-week rally in oil prices.

"A surge in new cases of COVID-19 threatens to disrupt the recovery in oil demand," ANZ Research commodities strategists Daniel Hynes and Soni Kumari said in a