Oil steadied above $42 a barrel on Friday, heading for a weekly drop, as demand concerns raised by surging coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe were offset by the prospect of an extension to OPEC-led supply curbs – Reuters reports.
On top of this, according to Reuters, Brent crude LCOc1 rose 2 cents to $42.48 a barrel by 1335 GMT, having gained 1.7% on Thursday. U.S. crude CLc1 added 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $40.72. Both contracts are heading for a weekly loss.
“There is little in the way of support from the demand side in view of the extremely high number of new COVID-19 cases,” Reuters quoted Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg. “There is also pressure on prices from the supply side.”
OPEC+, a group that includes Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is due to increase production by 2 million bpd in January 2021 as part of a plan to pump more as demand recovers.
