Oil falls over 3% as dollar rises and coronavirus vaccine rollout stalls

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices sunk for a fifth day running on Thursday on a stronger dollar, a further increase in U.S. crude and fuel inventories and the weight of the ever-present COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude was down $2.33, or 3.43%, to $65.67 a barrel at 1426 GMT. U.S. oil was down $2.27, or 3.51%, at $65.67 after shedding 0.3% in the previous session. Both contracts are down 6% over the past five days.

“Short-term developments – stuttering vaccine rollouts and the build in U.S. oil inventories – are driving sentiment, but the longer-term oil outlook is still encouraging,” said PVM Oil Associates analyst Tamas Varga.

“Yesterday’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting provided a boost to equities … U.S. economic growth has been revised upwards while unemployment is expected to decline.”