Oil in a Limited Range And COVID-19 Restrictions in Asia Affecting Sentiment

Oil prices moved within a limited range today, Monday, after concerns about supplies subsided to support the recovery of a major US pipeline network, but the imposition of new restrictions in Asia amid the escalation of Covid-19 cases affected sentiment.

The gasoline shortage plaguing the east coast of the United States slowly eased on Sunday, as 1,000 more stations received supplies as the 8,900-kilometer Colonial Pipeline system recovered from a crippled cyberattack.

Brent crude futures rose three cents to $68.74 a barrel in Asian trading, and West Texas Intermediate crude rose eight cents, or 0.1%, to $65.45.

Both contracts jumped about 2.5% on Friday and snapped a slight weekly gain last week, for the third consecutive weekly increase.

Investors are cautious over fears that a fast-spreading strain of coronavirus, first discovered in India, is moving to other countries.

On Sunday, some Indian states said they would extend lockdown measures linked to COVID-19 to help contain the pandemic that has killed more than 270,000 people in the country.

Singapore warned yesterday that the new Coronavirus chains are affecting more children, as the city-state prepares to close most schools as of this week, while Japan declared a state of emergency in three other provinces severely affected by the pandemic.