Oil falls a second day after IEA warns of slowdown in demand

TOKYO: Oil prices fell for a second day on Friday after the IEA warned that demand growth for crude and its products had slowed sharply as surging cases of COVID-19 worldwide has forced governments to revive restrictions on movement.

Brent crude was down 31 cents, or 0.4%, at $71.00 a barrel by 0046 GMT, after dropping 13 cents in the previous session. US crude was off by 33 cents, or 0.5%, at $68.76 a barrel, having fallen 0.2% on Thursday. The benchmarks are still heading for a slight gain this week.