Oil slips as rising global virus toll causes uncertainty over demand – The National

Oil slips as rising global virus toll causes uncertainty over demand – The National

Crude futures have remained steady following the Opec+ announcement last week that supply is set to increase gradually





























An aerial view of a crude oil storage facility at WTI's physical delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma. Limited capacity at Cushing was one of the reasons behind the benchmark's plunge into negative territory in April. AFP











Oil prices slipped at the start of trading on Monday as questions over demand recovery resurfaced due to the rising global toll of Covid-19 cases.



Brent, the benchmark under which two-thirds of the world's crude is traded, was down 0.7 per cent at $42.84 per barrel at 5.42pm UAE time. West Texas Intermediate, which tracks US crude, was down 0.67 per cent at $40.32 per barrel.





The benchmarks opened lower despite a reassuring front shown by the core Opec+ countries last week, which plan to ease restrictions on crude output following signs of a pick-up in demand.



The Opec+ group of producers will hold back output by 7.7 million barrels per day from August, alongside compensatory cuts by countries that exceeded their quotas between May and June this year.