Oil hits skids, drops 7% on worsening outlook for coronavirus in Europe | Reuters
Oil prices plunged for a fifth day in a row on Thursday, posting their biggest-one day declines since last summer on growing worries about rising COVID-19 cases in Europe and the strengthening U.S. dollar.
Several large European economies have had to reimpose lockdowns as caseloads rise, while vaccination programs are slowing due to concerns about side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine that was being widely distributed in Europe.
U.S. heating oil and gasoline also both fell more than 5%.
“A best-case scenario for demand recovery had been priced into this market. Everyone was celebrating the vaccine rollout and reduced restrictions,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.
“Now in Europe, it’s gone off the rails almost completely. Lockdowns in Poland and Italy strike at the heart of this whole demand recovery narrative and thesis that pumped up prices.”
Brent futures dropped $4.72, or 6.9%, to settle at $63.28 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas International (WTI) crude fell $4.60, or 7.1%, to settle at $60.
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