Oil Set for Worst Week Since March on OPEC+ Anxiety and Delta - Bloomberg

Oil Set for Worst Week Since March on OPEC+ Anxiety and Delta - Bloomberg

PRICES

West Texas Intermediate for August fell 0.6% to $71.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 7:40 a.m. in London after sliding 2% in the previous session. Futures are down 4.5% this week. Brent for September settlement slipped 0.6% to $73.02 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after losing 1.7% on Thursday. Futures down 3.3% this week, set for third weekly loss. The prompt timespread for Brent was at 68 cents in backwardation, compared with 81 cents a week earlier.

Oil headed for the biggest weekly loss since mid-March as a resurgence of Covid-19 and uncertainty around the prospect for an OPEC+ deal to increase supply clouded the short-term outlook.

Futures in New York fell 0.6% toward $71 a barrel after closing at the lowest in a month on Thursday. The fast-spreading delta variant is sweeping across the globe, leading to renewed restrictions and curbing fuel demand. The United Arab Emirates is nearing a deal that would give it better terms and allow OPEC+ to boost output in the coming months, although details remain scant.

A stronger dollar has also weighed on crude this week, making raw materials priced in the U.S. currency less attractive to investors. The Bloomberg Spot Dollar Index climbed to the highest level since early April on Tuesday.