Sanctions game
The global oil market has become a battleground of sanctions and strategic manoeuvres.
Oil prices extended losses in Asian trade Monday, Oil slumped to a 17-year low as Covid-19 lockdowns cascaded through the world’s largest economies, leaving the market languished.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 5.3 per cent to trade at $20 a barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude was off 6.5 per cent at 23.
The falls came after the death toll from the pandemic surged past 30,000 at the weekend as cases in hard-hit Europe and the United States showed no sign of letting up.
Advertisement
Senior US scientist Anthony Fauci estimated the virus could possibly result in 100,000 to 200,000 deaths in the United States, while President Donald Trump extended “social distancing” guidelines until April 30.
The president also said he expected the country to “be well on our way to recovery” by June 1 dropping his previous target of mid-April.
Physical oil markets are struggling to store fuel, hit by a double whammy of virus restrictions eroding demand and a damaging war for market share between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has prices on track for the worst quarter on record.
Advertisement
