Oil falls 2% on rising COVID-19 cases, ahead of OPEC+ talks | Reuters

Oil falls 2% on rising COVID-19 cases, ahead of OPEC+ talks | Reuters

Oil prices fell 2% to a one-week low on Monday after hitting their highest since 2018 earlier in the session, as a spike in COVID-19 cases in Asia and Europe put a brake on the rally before this week's OPEC+ meeting.

Brent futures fell $1.50, or 2.0%, to settle at $74.68 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.14, or 1.5%, to settle at $72.91.

Those declines pushed both contracts out of overbought territory and were their lowest closes since June 18. Earlier in the volatile session, both benchmarks rose to their highest levels since October 2018.

"The forecast for oil demand recovery over the summer may be a bit overestimated, and traders are facing a reality check this week as the (COVID-19) Delta variant reached Europe and as an infections surge in Southeast Asia and Australia is bringing back lockdowns," said Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy.