Oil edges lower on rising virus cases, US-China tensions

Oil prices edged lower on Monday on rising coronavirus cases particularly in Europe and tensions between major consumers China and the United States, although China’s plans to increase US crude imports curbed the losses.

Brent crude fell 17 cents, or 0.4%, to $44.63 a barrel by 1206 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 9 cents, or 0.2%, to $41.92 a barrel.

“Clearly the market is not tightening as quickly as initially anticipated. Demand is taking longer than expected to get back to normal levels,” ING Group said.