Oil drops in hopes Suez Canal blockade could end soon By Reuters

By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil fell on Monday as a container ship blocking the Suez Canal for nearly a week was partially refloated, raising hopes that the busy waterway would soon be reopened and demand fuel in Europe remained low.

was down 29 cents, or 0.5%, to $ 64.28 a barrel at 8:54 a.m. GMT. fell 55 cents, or 1%, to $ 60.42 a barrel.

“Now that the Suez mini-crisis is being resolved, the oil market is once again on its own,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Oil Associates.

“Attention will once again turn to stuttering inoculation programs, the seemingly unstoppable rise in infection rates in several parts of the world and the next OPEC meeting on April 1,” he added.

The stranded container ship Ever Given has been partially floated and righted in the canal, with further towing operations expected to resume when the tide comes up later Monday.

Prices have fluctuated sharply over the past few days as traders and investors tried to weigh the impact of blocking a key trade transit point and the wider effect of lockdowns to stop coronavirus infections.

Market volatility is expected to continue, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

“Given the volatility of the past week, Brent is expected to move down its range of $ 60.00 to $ 65.00 per barrel,” he said, while US oil “is expected to move down from its range of $ 60.00 to $ 65.00 per barrel,” he said. drop to the bottom of its weekly range of $ 57.50 to $ 62.50 a barrel. . “

The market is receiving some support from expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will maintain lower production levels when they meet this week.

Renewed lockdowns in Europe to curb a wave of coronavirus infections and weak demand for fuel also put pressure on prices, although England’s home lockdown order ended on Monday.