Oil drops as India's COVID crisis puts brakes on rally | Reuters

Oil drops as India's COVID crisis puts brakes on rally | Reuters

Oil prices fell 1% on Thursday as India's coronavirus crisis deepened, halting a rally that had lifted crude to an eight-week high after the IEA and OPEC forecast a rebound in global demand.

Brent crude was down 74 cents, or 1.1%, at $68.58 a barrel by 0655 GMT, after rising 1% on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 75 cents, or 1.1%, to $65.33 a barrel, having risen 1.2% in the previous session.

"The path for crude prices appears to be higher but until the situation improves in India, WTI will probably struggle to break above the early March high," Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.

Oil demand was already outstripping supply and the shortfall was expected to grow even if Iran boosted exports, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.