On Friday, oil lost ground amid worries about demand related to the revived outbreak of Covid-19 at the beginning of the year. U.S. light crude WTI (February futures contract on Nymex) gave up 1.6 percent to $52.27 a barrel, while North Sea Brent dropped 1.2 percent to $55.41.
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Prices were also under pressure from the news of an unprecedented rise in U.S. crude inventories, which for the week ended January 15 increased by 4.4 million barrels, when the forecast was for a 2.5 million barrels decrease.
Comex’s February futures contract for Gold dropped 0.5% to $1,856.20, but for the week as a whole, the yellow metal recovered 1.4 percent.
Overall, the oil prices will gain stronger ground only with the recovery of the U.S. as well as the world economy. The United States has announced that any foreign travelers wishing to fly to the United States will need a negative PCR test. The measure is due to take place on 26 January. After the current president vowed during his campaign to hit 100 million vaccinated within the first 100 days of his presidency, the new Biden administration is seeking to accelerate the vaccination campaign. To date, at least one dose of the vaccine has been given to 17.5 million Americans.
On the other side of the globe, there are also signs of a revival in Asia now, where the pandemic seemed to have been under control for months. Beijing has initiated an ambitious screening program in China, while Shanghai will be checking all its medical professionals. The officials in Hong Kong decided to confine an entire neighborhood. According to press outlets, owing to the health crisis, Beijing is considering canceling the lunar New Year (week of 12 February) festivities for the second year.
The death rate from the pandemic continues to escalate internationally, with 97.6 million cases and 2.09 million deaths worldwide, and more than 411,000 deaths in the United States, the region with the most coronavirus infections.
