Still Affected By COVID-19 Delta Variant, Oil Prices Corrected

Illustration. (Doc Antara)

JAKARTA - Oil prices fell on Friday as traders feared the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant would threaten the recovery in oil demand.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for September delivery lost 65 cents, to settle at 68.44 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for October settlement declined 72 cents to close at 70.59 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. "Both the IEA and OPEC published their monthly reports yesterday. Their common tenor in both cases is bearish for prices," Commerzbank Research Energy Analyst Carsten Fritsch said in a note on Friday, August 14.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday in its closely watched monthly report that demand growth abruptly reversed course in July after a marked rise in June, "and the outlook for the rest of the year has been lowered due to worsening pandemic developments and revised data. historical."

International energy watchers also envision a sizeable supply surplus next year if OPEC+ sticks to its plan and completely reverses its output cuts.

In its monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sticks to its demand forecast, however, it shares the view with the IEA that next year OPEC demand will be 1 million bpd lower than previously thought.

For the week, benchmark US crude oil (WTI) prices are up 0.2 percent, while Brent is down 0.2 percent, based on the front-month contract.