Oil prices dive on Covid worries
Oil prices tumbled on Friday, closing out a week of losses on worries that travel restrictions to curb the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 will derail global economic gains. Daily new Covid-19 cases in the United States have climbed to a six-month high and Japan and China are re-imposing restrictions to halt the spread of the virus. Brent crude oil futures fell 69 cents to $70.60 a barrel, en route to a 6% drop for the week, which would be the largest loss in four months. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.02, or 1.5%, to $68.07 a barrel, and were on track for their biggest weekly decline in nine months. “The price action we see now is really a function of the macro picture,” said Howie Lee, an economist at Singapore bank OCBC. “The Delta variant is now really starting to hit home and you see risk aversion in many markets, not just oil.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2021.
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