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Oil set for 20% drop in 2020 as lockdowns weigh

Published 12/31/2020, 09:48 AM
Updated 12/31/2020, 09:50 AM
© Reuters.
LCO
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SINGAPORE, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Global crude oil markets have
lost about a fifth of their value in 2020 as strict coronavirus
lockdowns paralyzed much of the global economy, but prices have
rebounded strongly from their lows as governments rolled out
more stimulus.
On Thursday, the last trading day of 2020, Brent LCOc1 was
trading down 18 cents, or 0.4%, at $51.45 a barrel, as of 0136
GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 0.1%, or 5
cents, to $48.35 a barrel.
Brent and WTI have more than doubled from decade-lows seen
in April, putting past a year which marked the first negative
prices for WTI that shocked investors globally.
Asian shares are set to end a tumultuous 2020 by hovering
near record highs on Thursday while riskier currencies cruised
near 2-1/2-year peaks, buoyed by hopes that COVID-19 vaccine
rollouts will help the world beat the pandemic. MKTS/GLOB
In the short-term, concerns over coronavirus lockdowns are
likely to cap gains.
A new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom has led to
the reimposition of movement restrictions, hitting near-term
demand and weighing on prices, while hospitalizations and
infections have surged in parts of Europe and Africa.
On the supply front, U.S. energy firms this week added 3 oil
and natural gas rigs to the best quarter for boosting the rig
count since the second quarter of 2017, according to data from
Baker Hughes. A Jan. 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia, a group known
as OPEC+, is set to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day in
January.

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