Business

Oil steadies on stunt recovery due to European lockdowns

24 Mar 2021

Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Gulf Today Report

Oil prices steadied on Wednesday after its previous day’s slump but fears of slow demand recovery due to new lockdowns in Europe capped the recovery.

Brent crude futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $60.87 a barrel by 04:54 GMT while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $57.84 a barrel.

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Although investors have fixed up after Tuesday’s sharp selloff, the market's sentiment is still bearish as Europe goes into new lockdowns, said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co.

Europe’s biggest oil consumer, Germany has extended its lockdown to April 18.

Adding to the pressure, US crude oil stocks jumped by 2.9 million barrels in the week to March 19, against analysts' expectations for a decline of about 300,000 barrels, according to trading sources citing data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute.