Crude-oil futures added to losses Monday morning, after last week producing their largest weekly loss since October as worries over renewed lockdowns and a sluggish vaccine rollout in parts of Europe continued to dog energy markets.
“There is still some residual pessimism in the market as Europe, instead of finally opening open, is seeing pockets of increased Covid-19 cases, forcing many European countries reinstate or extend lockdowns,” wrote Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy, in a Monday research note.
West Texas Inter
mediate crude for April delivery
CLJ21,
CL.1,
rose $1.42, or 2.4%, to trade at $61.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The April contract expires at the end of Monday’s session. The May WTI
CLK21,
+0.29%,
the most-actively traded contract, was trading 19 cents, or 0.3%, lower at $61.27 a barrel.
Meanwhile, May Brent crude
BRN00,
+0.11%
BRNK21,
+0.11%,
the global benchmark, edged 12 cents, or 0.2%, lower at $64.41 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Last week, WTI crude lost 6.4%, while Brent declined by 6.8%, the largest losses since October for both benchmarks, following big losses on Thursday, when WTI plunged 7.1%, and Brent dropped 6.9% for its biggest one-day percentage loss since June.
