Oil prices remain under pressure from both supply and demand factors
LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Monday but remained under pressure from rising COVID-19 cases in Europe and a potential release of Japanese oil reserves, raising concerns about both oversupply and weak demand.
Prices of the Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude benchmarks fell more than $1 in early trading, hitting their lowest since Oct. 1.
By 1007 GMT, Brent was up 31 cents, or 0.4%, at $79.20 a barrel while U.S. crude had gained 34 cents, or 0.5%, to $76.28.
The prospect of national lockdowns in Europe has raised concerns about economic and oil demand growth, said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
