The price of crude oil continues to decline on Tuesday. The day before, the market plummetted due to investors panic on the resumption of black gold mining in Eastern Libya, as well as news about a significant increase in new cases of coronavirus infection in some countries of the world.
The price of futures contracts for Brent crude oil for delivery in November on the trading floor in London moderately traded downward Tuesday morning and fell 0.29% or $ 0.12. This shifted it to its current level of $ 41.32 per barrel. Monday's trading ended with a rout in the cost of raw materials, the brand sank immediately by 4% or $ 1.71, which forced it to take a position at $ 41.44 per barrel.
The price of futures contracts for WTI crude oil for delivery in October on the electronic trading platform in New York also fell 0.23% or $ 0.09, which moved it to the level of $ 39.22. Monday's trading session was extremely unsuccessful for the brand, which lost 4.4% or $ 1.8, leaving the price level at $ 39.31 per barrel. The fact that oil has sunk below the strategically and psychologically important $ 40 per barrel mark is particularly sad, as it hints at the possibility of a further deeper fall.
To date, the most serious factor that can significantly change the balance of power in the market is the level of coronavirus infection around the globe. This is what scares market participants the most. And since every day we receive news about an increase in the incidence of diseases in a particular region and the corresponding beginning of the second wave of COVID-19, there is almost no hope that this factor will stop being recouped by investors in the near future ... In this regard, analysts warn that the second half of this year will be extremely volatile and it is worth preparing for a constant and sharp change of mood from positive to negative and vice versa.
Almost no expert can reliably predict the movement of oil prices, since the market situation will remain uncertain for quite a long time.
Such an example of the situation is Tuesday's movement of the market after the news on the intended resumption of the operation of oil production stations in the Eastern part of Libya. This immediately affected the price of crude oil, which began to plummet.
All these fears can not be considered in vain. The national oil company of Libya has already started preparing to send abroad the first batch of crude oil, which was extracted after the lifting of the blockade from the stations. According to rough estimates, the tanker, which is supposed to transport oil, will hold about 1 million barrels of black gold.
Note that the blockade of oil production facilities in Libya led to the decrease in the level of production to 100,000 barrels per day, which was previously within 1.3 million barrels per day. This week, the country may see a significant increase in production by 200,000 barrels per day. Of course, all this can not but cause a special panic among market participants, who were only recently reassured by OPEC, which declared the readiness of all countries to continue the policy of reducing oil production in accordance with the previously signed agreement. The current situation around Libya may put the market out of balance for a long time.
