AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,944 Increased By 65.8 (0.96%)
BR30 22,827 Increased By 258.6 (1.15%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)
Markets

Oil falls 2pc as inventories rise and vaccine rollout stalls

  • Brent crude fell $1.47, or 2.16%, to $66.53 a barrel.
  • US oil was down $1.50, or 2.32%, at $63.10 after shedding 0.3% in the previous session.
Published March 18, 2021

LONDON: Oil prices fell for a fifth day running on Thursday on a stronger dollar, a further increase in US crude and fuel inventories and the weight of the ever-present COVID-19 pandemic.

Brent crude fell $1.47, or 2.16%, to $66.53 a barrel by 1341 GMT. US oil was down $1.50, or 2.32%, at $63.10 after shedding 0.3% in the previous session. Both contracts are down more than 4% over the past five days.

"Short-term developments - stuttering vaccine rollouts and the build in US oil inventories - are driving sentiment, but the longer-term oil outlook is still encouraging," said PVM Oil Associates analyst Tamas Varga.

"Yesterday's US Federal Reserve meeting provided a boost to equities ... US economic growth has been revised upwards while unemployment is expected to decline."

A sharp rise in the value of the dollar after the Fed meeting has also driven the oil sell-off.

Government data on Wednesday showed US crude inventories have risen for four straight weeks after severe cold weather forced shutdowns at refineries in the south. An industry report estimating a decline had raised hopes of a halt to the gains.

US crude inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels last week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday, a day after the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that there had been a 1 million barrel decline.

Varga added that the market would waiting for US manufacturing data next week for further indications on the health of the world's largest economy.

"Lower crude demand from Asian buyers as a result of upcoming refinery maintenance and probably higher prices is also something not helping crude at the moment," said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

A slowdown in some vaccination programmes and the prospect of more restrictions to control the coronavirus have tempered expectations for a recovery in fuel use.

Britain said on Thursday that global supply bumps meant its vaccine rollout would be slower than hoped in the coming weeks but it expects deliveries to increase from May.

A number of European countries have halted use of the AstraZeneca shot because of concerns about possible side effects, though the World Health Organization said that Europe should continue to use the vaccine.

Comments

Comments are closed.