Oil prices down on bad market outlooks

Oil prices fell Monday as rising coronavirus cases fueled demand concerns, with major crude oil benchmarks on the way to their first monthly decline since April. The price of Brent crude (LCOc1) fell 32 cents, or 0.7%, to $ 41.60 per barrel by 0915 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (CLc1) was $ 39.89 a barrel, down 36 cents, or 0.8%. "The increase in daily infections has accelerated, and the total is now very close to 33 million. The hardest hit countries are the populous," said PVM analyst Tamas Varga. "The speed at which the virus is spreading is the primary concern of both health officials and financial investors. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Monday that the global oil market has been stable in recent months and the balance between supply and demand has been restored, but warned of the risks of a second wave of COVID-19 cases. Despite efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to limit production, more crude oil is being exported by OPEC producers Iran and Libya. "The increase in production is modest," said BNP Paribas analyst Harry Tchilinguirian of Libya's renewed exports. "Even if Libya were to quickly ramp up production to the pre-blockade level of 1 million barrels a day, crude oil could not easily find buyers in the short term. OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Sunday that commercial oil stocks in OECD countries are expected to be only slightly above the five-year average in the first quarter of 2021 before falling below that level for the rest of the year.