NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices dipped on Thursday as surging coronavirus cases in Europe and new lockdowns in China renewed worries about global oil demand and eclipsed bullish signals from Chinese import data and U.S. crude oil stocks draws.
Brent crude oil futures fell 57 cents, or 1%, to $55.49 a barrel by 11:08 a.m. ET (1608 GMT,) while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 27 cents or 0.5% to $52.64.
China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, reported its biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases in more than 10 months.
Governments across Europe have announced tighter and longer coronavirus lockdowns, with vaccinations not expected to have a significant impact for the next few months.
