Petroleum prices dropped more than 5% to a three-week low on Wednesday as surging coronavirus infections in the United States and Europe is leading to renewed lockdowns, fanning fears that the unsteady economic recovery will deteriorate.
Brent futures fell $2.03, or 4.9%, to trade at $39.24 U.S. per barrel, the lowest for Brent since Oct. 2, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $2.13, or 5.38%, to $37.45 per barrel, and the lowest for WTI since Oct. 5.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that oil inventory increased by 4.3 million barrels for the week ending Oct. 23. Analysts expected a build of 1.15 million barrels.
The United States, Russia, France and other countries have registered record numbers of COVID-19 cases in recent days and European governments have introduced new curbs to try to rein in the fast-growing outbreaks.
U.S. oil and gasoline stocks rose last week, industry data from the American Petroleum Institute showed, with crude inventories rising by 4.6 million barrels, well above analyst expectations of a 1.2-million-barrel build.
