NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell 4% per barrel on Thursday, extending a string of market weakness on renewed lockdowns in Europe and Asia to head off a rising coronavirus infection rate.
Prices lost much of the gains from the previous session that followed news of a large container ship running aground in the Suez Canal. The ship has still not been freed, but for now the market was shrugging off the blockage, as only a small percentage of the world’s crude is shipped through the canal.
Brent crude fell $2.58, or 4%, to $61.83 a barrel by 12:33 p.m. EDT (1633 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $2.95, or 4.8%, to $58.23 a barrel.
