SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices edged lower on Friday after dropping about 3% a day earlier as COVID-19 cases remained high in major oil consumer India and as a key fuel pipeline in the United States resumed operations after being shut due to a cyberattack.
Brent crude oil futures were down 20 dents at $66.85 a barrel at 0648, while West Texas Intermediate (WTT) was down 14 cents at $63.68 per barrel.
Both prices are heading for their first weekly loss in three weeks.
India on Friday recorded 343,144 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, taking its overall caseload past the 24 million mark, while deaths from coronavirus rose by 4,000.
In the United States, President Joe Biden reassured motorists that fuel supplies should start returning to normal this weekend.
Colonial Pipeline said late on Thursday that it had restarted its entire pipeline system and had begun deliveries in all of its markets.
Prices also came under pressure as broader surge in commodity prices and stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer prices data this week stoked inflation concerns that could force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, according to Reuters.
Raising rates typically boosts the U.S. dollar, which in turn pressures oil prices because it makes crude more expensive for holders of other currencies.
“The commodity super cycle rally just hit a hard stop and the energy market doesn’t know what to make of Wall Street’s fixation over inflation and the slow flattening of the curve in India,” Reuters quoted Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, as saying.
“The crude demand story is still upbeat for the second half of the year and that should prevent any significant dips in oil prices,” he said.
