Oil pares weekly gain with virus fears countering tighter supply

Oil pares weekly gain with virus fears countering tighter supply

Admin 20 hours ago News

Bloomberg

Oil slipped, paring a weekly gain, as concern of demand erosion from a coronavirus resurgence countered strong US economic data. Futures fell to about $40 a barrel in New York as the virus continues to spread unabated across large parts of the US, clouding the outlook for energy demand. Crude prices gained 4.2% for the week as data showed a rebound in the US jobs market accelerated in early June and American crude stockpiles shrank by the most this year. A survey showed Opec oil production dropped last month to the lowest since 1991. "We have had a sharp recovery in demand for energy products that has occurred from March to end of May,“ Daniel Ghali, a TD Securities commodity strategist, said by phone. "Since then the pace of recovery has slowed. There is concern that this stall may be a signal of weakness in demand that's tied to the rise in coronavirus cases in the US.“ Adding to the murky demand outlook, Chinese oil inventories swelled to a record this week, satellite data show, after the world's biggest oil importer went on a buying spree last quarter as the economy rebounded. The stockpiles may