Oil up above 2% on tighter supplies, eased lockdowns - Reuters

Oil up above 2% on tighter supplies, eased lockdowns - Reuters:

Oil was up 2% on Monday on tighter crude supplies from major producers and as coronavirus lockdowns kept easing despite a record rise in cases globally.

Brent crude settled at $43.08 a barrel, up 89 cents, or 2.1%. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude contract for August, the day’s more-active contract, settled at $40.73 a barrel, rising 90 cents, or 2.3%.

Prices got a boost from a plummeting U.S. and Canadian oil rig count, an indicator of future supply, which fell to a new low last week, said Andy Lipow, president of consultants Lipow Oil Associates.

The reopening of U.S. states and countries around the world following business closures and stay-at-home orders caused by the novel coronavirus, also helped oil rally, said Gene McGillian, vice president of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.