Oil falls on worries over fuel demand setback as infections rise - Reuters

Oil falls on worries over fuel demand setback as infections rise - Reuters:

Oil prices dropped on Monday, amid concerns that a recovery in fuel demand could be derailed by a rise in the pace of coronavirus infections around the world.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down 36 cents, or 0.8%, at $42.78 a barrel by 0653 GMT, after dropping slightly last week. U.S. oil was off by 34 cents, or 0.8%, at $40.25 a barrel, after gaining 4 cents last week.

More than 14.5 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and more than 604,000 have died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the pathogen, according to a Reuters tally.

“The never-ending coronavirus pandemic may force countries to reinstitute lockdown measures that will slow economic growth and curb energy demand,” said Avtar Sandu, commodities manager at Phillip Futures.