COMMODITY
Crude oil futures end deeply in red as fears of demand crunch grow
Mar-27-2020

Crude oil futures ended deeply in red on Thursday, snapping 3-day gaining streak, as growing   worries about the decline in energy demand on account of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Oil prices further fell as the International Energy Agency’s Executive Director Fatih Birol said the effects of the glut will be felt for years to come, and with three billion people in the world on lockdown, oil demand may fall by as much as 20 million barrels a day. Meanwhile, the US Energy Department withdrew a March 19 tender for the first part of a plan to buy 77 million barrels of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as the Trump administration failed to win funding for the purchase from Congress. Prices for oil have depreciated 60% since the start of 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak and aggressive price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Crude oil futures for May dropped $1.89 or 7.7 percent to settle at $ 22.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude fell $1.05 or 3.8 percent to settle at $ 26.34 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

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