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UPDATE 8-Oil extends losses with 4% slump on renewed lockdowns

Published 10/29/2020, 01:21 PM
Updated 10/30/2020, 06:30 AM
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

* Renewed restrictions in France and Germany threaten demand
* Libya oil production rises to 680,000 bpd
* Hurricane Zeta impact on oil output to be short-lived

(Updates with settlement prices)
By Jessica Resnick-Ault
NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled on Thursday,
touching a five-month low and extending the previous day's sharp
decline on the impact renewed coronavirus lockdowns could have
on oil demand.
December Brent crude LCOc1 futures settled lower at $37.65
a barrel, down $1.47, or 3.76%. During the session, the contract
traded as low as $36.64, the lowest in five months. The more
active January contract lost 4% to $38.11 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures
settled at $36.17 a barrel, down $1.22, or 3.26%. The contract
touched its lowest since mid-June at $34.92.
Both contracts plunged by more than 5% on Wednesday.
"People are reacting to COVID cases that are spiking - they
are reacting to the number of new cases," said Bob Yawger,
director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York. The market was
under additional pressure about demand concerns, as additional
U.S. economic stimulus has not been forthcoming, Yawger said.
With COVID-19 cases surging across Europe, France will
require people to stay at home for all but essential activities
from Friday, while Germany will shut bars, restaurants and
theatres from Nov. 2 until the end of the month. "As lockdowns begin to bite on demand concerns across Europe,
the near-term outlook for crude starts to deteriorate," said
Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
and its allies will be monitoring the deteriorating demand
outlook closely as well as rising supplies from OPEC member
Libya.
OPEC and its allies, together known as OPEC+, plan on
tapering production cuts in January 2021 from a current 7.7
million barrels per day (bpd) to about 5.7 million bpd.
" We believe it is increasingly unlikely that oil
production will be stepped up from January," Commerzbank said.
"Instead, OPEC and its allies (OPEC+) would really need to
implement further production cuts, given the weak prospects for
demand."
Libya is currently producing 680,000 bpd and expects
production to rise to 1 million bpd in the next few weeks, a
Libyan oil source said.
OPEC+ is scheduled to meet on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 to set
policy.
Oil had initially rebounded slightly from overnight losses
in Asian morning trade on technical support and the prospect of
tighter short-term supply as Hurricane Zeta slams Louisiana.
But the hurricane is forecast to weaken by Thursday morning
in the United States and the return of U.S. production will add
to existing oversupply.

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