Oil prices edge up, but impact of lockdowns restrain gains | Reuters

Oil prices edge up, but impact of lockdowns restrain gains | Reuters

Oil prices edged up on Monday as a weaker dollar offset fresh concerns about the hit to global fuel demand from renewed lockdowns to curb the spike in COVID-19 infections.

Brent crude futures for March rose 32 cents, or 0.6%, to $55.73 a barrel by 0729 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for March was at $52.62 a barrel, up 35 cents, or 0.7%.

“Petroleum markets have been in a tug of war recently: Downward revisions to the global demand outlook from the IEA and renewed fears of Chinese demand deceleration due to new coronavirus strains have kept a lid on oil prices,” Citi analysts said in a note.

“Yet, production outages from Libya and Kazakhstan along with OPEC+ cuts and a weaker U.S. dollar have supported market sentiment.”

Libya’s Waha oil has resumed production after pipeline repairs while output from Kazakhstan’s giant Tengiz field was disrupted by a power outage on Jan. 17.