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In oil markets, the weakest week has ended since early April
Author:Mariusz Dasiewicz
In oil markets, the weakest week for listing this raw material has ended since early April. Countries in Asia are still fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic, and this weakens the demand for fuel," said brokers.
West Texas Intermediate oil barrel in deliveries for June at the NYMEX fuel exchange in New York City is valued at $63.74, below 0.16%. However, the weekly loss of WTI quotes is more than 2%.
Oil Brent in deliveries for July at the ICE Futures Europe fuel exchange in London costs $66.86 per barrel, below 0.30%.
Health crisis in some countries Asia is not conducive to fuel purchases in the region.
Japan reported over 7,000 new infections on Wednesday, including 969 in Tokyo. About 700 new cases were found in Hokkaido Prefecture, where the marathon run is scheduled to take place at the upcoming Olympic Games.
The Japanese government plans to add three further prefectures to the list of areas where the state of emergency is in force due to Covid-19. These will be Hokkaido, Hiroshima and Okayama, and the restrictions will apply from 16 May until the end of this month.
In India, which is a key importer of oil in the world, more than 300 000 new coronavirus infections are still recorded daily.
Analysts indicate that increasing numbers of new cases of coronavirus in Asia worsen the forecasts of demand for oil and its products.
"The growing number of new cases of Covid-19 in India and some other parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America illustrate the threat to oil demand," says Victor Shum, Vice President of Energy Advice at IHS Markit.
"But in general the market has high expectations – that the demand for oil will increase even more this year, so the prices of this raw material will probably remain between US$60-70 per Brent barrel," he adds.
A stronger recovery can be seen in the US economy and there the demand for fuel is improving, and this is good for the world's largest economy.
Source: PAP
