\u00a0Oil prices were steady on Monday, supported by tighter supplies from major producers but held in check by concerns over a rise in coronavirus infections worldwide that could stall a recovery in fuel demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brent crude LCOc1 was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, at $42.24 a barrel by 1349 GMT. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude contract for August CLc2, which became the day\u2019s more active contract, rose 10 cents, or 0.2%, to $39.93.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea on Monday said for the first time that it was in the midst of a second wave of the coronavirus. The World Health Organization reported a record rise in global cases on Sunday, with the biggest increase coming from North and South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInfections are rising in key markets around the world and there are valid concerns that the world is in for a prolonged period of dealing with its consequences,\u201d said Rystad Energy\u2019s head of oil markets Bjornar Tonhaugen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After weeks of rising, prices of physical oil have begun to ease as the rally succumbs to the reality of poor refinery margins and brimming inventories, traders and analysts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Brent and U.S. contracts rose about 9% last week, supported by a recovery in fuel demand as nations resume economic activity after easing lockdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bank of America (BofA) Global Research has lifted its oil price forecast for this year and next as demand recovers while the OPEC+ output cut deal curtails supply and producers reduce capital expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bank now sees Brent averaging $43.70 a barrel in 2020, up from a previous estimate of $37. For 2021 and 2022, the bank forecasts average prices of $50 and $55 a barrel respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs we head into next year, we believe transportation demand could recover at a faster rate than we initially anticipated,\u201d the bank said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Signalling a recovery in global markets and tighter supplies, Brent has moved into backwardation, where oil for immediate delivery costs more than supply later. LCOc1-LCOc2 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, a group known as OPEC+, has yet to decide whether to extend a record supply cut of 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) into a fourth month, so it runs to the end of August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia said that $40 to $50 a barrel is a fair price.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0Oil prices were steady on Monday, supported by tighter supplies from major producers but held in check by concerns over a rise in coronavirus infections worldwide that could stall a recovery in fuel demand. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, at $42.24 a barrel by 1349 GMT. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":168167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-te-public"],"yoast_head":"\n