Oil Extends Retreat With Market Assessing Global Demand Recovery - Bloomberg

Oil Extends Retreat With Market Assessing Global Demand Recovery - Bloomberg

Oil fell the most in a week as investors assessed the state of the demand recovery in different parts of the world.

Futures in New York slipped 0.9% on Tuesday for a third straight session of losses, following a surge earlier this month to intraday levels last seen in 2018. Though there are indications of growing demand in some parts of the world, other regions -- notably Europe -- are lagging.

Road-fuel use is picking up in India and the U.S., but in France, consumption remained 10.8% lower in February year-over-year, according to the country’s petroleum-industry federation UFIP. Meanwhile, Europe’s health ministers are discussing the future of AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccine.

Crude is seeing “a bit of a technical breather after the big jump up,” with prices “starting to get into a sweet spot,” said Ryan Kelbrants, market broker at CHS Hedging LLC. On the demand side, economies are “opening up and we’re getting things in the U.S. going again, but some of the other countries are lagging.”

PRICES: West Texas Intermediate for April delivery fell 59 cents to settle at $64.80 a barrel Brent for May settlement declined 49 cents to end the session at $68.39 a barrel Both benchmarks are at the lowest in nearly a week