MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Oil prices skidded around 2% as fuel demand concerns re-emerged alongside fresh coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, trimming overnight gains spurred by the grounding of a giant container ship blocking crude shipments through the Suez Canal.
Brent crude futures slid $1.14, or 1.8%, to $63.27 a barrel at 0139 GMT, after jumping 6% overnight.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by $1.27, or 2.1%, to $59.91 a barrel, after climbing 5.9% overnight.
Prices had tumbled earlier in the week on worries about tighter pandemic curbs in Europe and vaccine delays stalling growth in demand for fuel, but sharply reversed on Wednesday with the grounded ship in the Suez Canal potentially blocking 10 tankers carrying 13 million barrels of oil.
