New supply and ongoing concerns about demand push petroleum futures down

摘要

After no reported supply disruptions resulted after three Atlantic storms tore through the Gulf of Mexico and the US Gulf Coast in under 30 days,traders seemed to have littde to focUS on other than the persistent demand weakness that has resulted from coronavirus-related personal movement restrictions.Nevertheless,losses were limited by modest week-on-week improvements in US implied demand.Petroleum futures prices dropped on Monday amid signs of fundamentals loosening further.COVID-19 infection rates were rising in varioilS countries,with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly considering reinstating a nationwide lockdown to combat the virus.Gary Cunningham of Connecticut-based Tradition Energy referred to recent news on demand for jet fuel as"depressing,"with the overall economic picture suffering due to the continued pressure from the pandemic.As the demand side of the equation continues to falter,the supply side is set to lengthen with Libyan production returning to the international market.Operations at the country's Sharara field were restarting and its National OH Corp.partially lifted a force majeure declaration.Preventing deeper losses for futures prices was Tropical Storm Beta,which was heading for the US state of Texas on Monday,keeping some GoM production offline.