Oil Decline as The Stuck Ship Ship Begins Moving in the Suez Canal

Oil fell by more than 2% on Monday, March 29th, after news from the Suez Canal that rescue crews managed to move the giant container ship that has been blocking the vital global trade corridor for nearly a week.

Brent crude fell $1.38, equivalent to 2.1%, to $63.19 a barrel. US crude fell 1.48 dollars, or 2.4%, to 59.49 dollars a barrel.

Hundreds of other container ships, bulk cargo ships, and tankers loaded with oil are still piled at both ends of the canal, but news of the ship’s movement pushed oil prices back immediately after it was trading slightly lower in the morning.

Oil prices have fluctuated significantly in the past few days, as traders and investors tried to balance the impact of closing a major transit point for trade and the broader impact of lockdown measures aimed at containing infections with the Coronavirus.

Prices are supported somewhat by expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will keep cutting production levels when they meet this week.