Amid the concern due to the rising Covid-19 cases, the oil prices slumped on Tuesday. The news sparked with the speculations of fresh lockdowns across the more prominent importers surrounded the market.
The news is a setback to the oil producers who ramped up the production citing the nascent recovery in the demand of the commodity. Following the information, the US WTI futures slid by 30 cents to $40.71 (barrel) in the initial trading session, which is 0.7%. On the other side, the Brent crude futures slipped to $43.78 a barrel, a change of 0.8 % or 37 cents.
The fall has come after Brent and WTI jumped by 1.5% and 1.8% on Monday, bettering the anticipation. The boost was led by the data exhibiting the surge of work in factories and industries in the US, Europe and Asian markets in the pandemic.
The alarming situation for the oil market can grow grim due to stiff regulations on the place in cities like Melbourne and Manila, to fight the infection, whereas, in the latest development, Norway has stalled the cruise ship traffic, ringing a bell for the European markets.
Interestingly, OPEC and its allies are trying to ramp-up the production of oil approximately 1.5m barrels a day.