Crude Oil Prices Rise, Trigger Delta Variant

JAKARTA - Oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed higher on Tuesday, August 10, following a massive sell-off following concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Brent crude for October settlement rose 1.59 dollars, or 2.3 percent, to close at 70.63 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Meanwhile, the price of West Texas Intermediate for September delivery added 1.81 US dollars, or 2.7 percent, to settle at 68.29 US dollars per barrel.

A day earlier, Monday, August 9, US crude oil benchmarks and Brent fell 2.6 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, as traders worried about the demand outlook amid the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. Traders awaited official data on material inventories. U.S. fuel as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release its weekly oil status report on Wednesday.

Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect the EIA publication to show a 600,000-barrel drop in US crude supplies for the past week.