ANKARA – Crude oil prices continued to slide on Monday after a sharp weekend loss since demand is expected to abate as Saudi Arabia makes deeper price cuts.
International benchmark Brent crude was trading at USD42.04 per barrel at 0636 GMT for a 1.4-percent loss after closing Friday at USD42.66 a barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at USD39.20 a barrel at the same time for a 1.4-percent decrease after ending the previous session at USD39.77 per barrel.
Oil prices posted the sharpest drop since July 30 after Saudi Arabia’s state producer, Saudi Aramco, announced it would trim October prices for its sales to the US and Saudi’s main market Asia, a move that is fueling demand concerns amid increasing coronavirus cases worldwide.
The boost in prices was eased with low oil consumption in Asia, Europe and North America with the ending of the summer driving season, indicating that global oil demand would decrease.
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continues to spread around the world, the global economic outlook and overall oil demand are still below the expected levels.
The number of Covid-19 cases worldwide is now over 27 million, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
As the US leads the number of cases with more than 6.2 million as of Monday morning, India surpassed Brazil for the first time with 4.2 million cases with Brazil trailing with 4.1 million cases. (Anadolu)
