 "Crude oil")
By Scott DiSavino
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Thursday as a new wave of coronavirus cases in Europe led several countries to reimpose travel restrictions, offsetting a bullish drop in U.S. crude and fuel inventories.
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Brent futures
That puts the premium of Brent over WTI
On Wednesday, prices climbed slightly after government data showed U.S. oil inventories fell last week. [EIA/S]
Still, U.S. fuel demand is subdued as the pandemic limits travel. The four-week average gasoline demand last week was down 9% from a year earlier, government data showed.
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"Oil prices (are) stable for now but downside pressure remains ... due to rising COVID numbers across Europe," said Craig Erlam, senior analysts at OANDA.
Britain, Germany and France imposed new restrictions to stem the coronavirus spread - all factors affecting fuel demand. [nL5N2GL2PW]
Prices were also capped by data showing the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased last week, supporting views the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was running out of steam amid diminishing government funding.
On the supply side, the market remains wary of a resumption of exports from Libya, although it is unclear how quickly it can ramp up volumes.
An oil tanker was loading a crude cargo on Thursday from one of three recently reopened Libyan terminals, with more loadings expected over the coming days.
A senior executive at U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips
(Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London, Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Koustav Samanta in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Barbara Lewis)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
