Oil slump deepens as Europe faces pandemic lockdowns

TOKYO, March 19 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday,
extending losses for a sixth day as a new wave of COVID-19
infections wash across Europe, spurring new lockdowns and
dampening hopes for a recovery in demand for fuels anytime soon.
Prices plunged the most on Thursday since last summer,
leaving oil down nearly 10% this week with the reality that the
pandemic is abiding, even if infections have plummeted in the
U.S., the worst-hit country and biggest crude consumer.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell below $60 again and was trading at
$59.97 a barrel by 0115 GMT. Brent crude LCOc1 was off by 1
cent at $63.27.
Several large European countries have reimposed lockdowns as
new infections increase again, while vaccination programs slow
because of concerns about side effects of the AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)
AZN.L vaccine, which was being widely distributed in Europe.
"Demand concerns linked to a bumpy vaccine roll-out in
Europe and other parts of the world" are hitting prices, said
Vivek Dhar, director, mining and energy commodities research, at
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Rising infections in Brazil were
also weighing on the market, he said.
Germany, France and other countries have since announced the
resumption of inoculations after regulators declared the
AstraZeneca vaccine safe, but the programme halt has made it
harder to overcome resistance to vaccines among some of the
population. Rising COVID-19 cases, particularly in Brazil, also weighed
on the demand outlook, and a stronger U.S. dollar pressured oil
prices.
Supplies of oil are plentiful as well, with Saudi Arabia's
crude exports increasing in January for a seventh straight month
to the highest since April 2020, according to the Joint
Organisations Data Initiative website on Thursday.
Shipments from the world's biggest oil exporter increased to
6.582 million barrels per day in January from 6.495 million the
previous month. In the U.S., crude inventories increased for a fifth week
last week, according to official figures released on Wednesday.