Oil eases as demand worries offset weaker dollar, big storage draw | Reuters

Oil eases as demand worries offset weaker dollar, big storage draw | Reuters

Oil eased on Thursday as the market focused more on concerns that delays to vaccine rollouts and fresh travel curbs could depress demand than the impact of a weaker dollar and a big U.S. crude inventory drawdown.

Brent futures for March delivery fell 28 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $55.53 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended 51 cents, or 1.0%, lower at $52.34.

With the Brent March contract expiring on Friday, the premium of the Brent front-month over the second month rose to its highest level since February 2020 for a fourth day in a row.

“We ... view the strong curve as indicative of tightening balances in which upcoming Saudi production cuts are more than offsetting increased demand concerns related to the coronavirus,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois.