Oil steadies after sell-off but European lockdowns hurt outlook for demand recovery | Reuters

Oil steadies after sell-off but European lockdowns hurt outlook for demand recovery | Reuters

Oil steadied on Monday as hopes for a pick-up in demand later this year helped arrest last week’s broad sell-off, but prices stayed under pressure as new European coronavirus lockdowns made a quick recovery look less likely.

Brent crude ended the session up 9 cents or 0.1% at $64.62 a barrel, while U.S. oil for delivery in April fell 13 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $61.55 a barrel as it expired.

The more active U.S. crude futures for delivery in May rose 12 cents or 0.2% to settle at $61.56 a barrel.

Both contracts fell more than 6% last week after making steady gains for months on the back of output cuts and an expected demand recovery.

“Oil (had) its worst week this year as concerns grow over a flaring up in COVID-19 cases across Europe,” Dutch bank ING said in a note. “This comes at a time when there are clear signs of weakness in the physical oil market.”