NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell about 3% to below $80 a barrel on Friday as surging COVID-19 cases in Europe threatened to slow the economic recovery while investors also weighed a potential release of crude reserves by major economies to cool prices.
Brent futures for January fell $2.35, or 2.9%, to settle at $78.89 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for December fell $2.91, or 3.6%, to $76.10 on its last day as the front-month. WTI for January, which will soon be the U.S. front-month, was down about $2.65, or 3.4%, to $75.78.
Both benchmarks declined for the fourth consecutive week, for the first time since March 2020.
