CHENNAI: With demand concerns rising among oil traders as global cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19 increase, Brent crude prices have declined over 4% to below the $70 per barrel mark on Monday, extending the losses seen last week. As of 9 pm IST, Brent Crude was trading at $68.7 a barrel on the International Commodities Exchange — a 12% fall in just eight days.
The decline is good news for Indian fuel consumers, who have had to shell out over Rs 100 per litre for petrol in most states, since oil marketing companies are likely to start effecting fuel price cuts if the declining trend in crude oil prices hold. OMCs determine daily retail fuel prices based on a 15-day rolling average of the international benchmark price for gasoline and diesel.
The global concerns over a rising Delta variant cases, especially in China, is the primary reason for the fall in crude rates, though analysts also note that the dollar has gotten much stronger over the past few weeks.
China on Monday reported 125 new Covid-19 cases, up from 96 a day earlier, while case counts hit daily records in Malaysia and Thailand. The rising cases have resulted in a reappearance of movement restrictions in China, the second largest consumer of crude oil in the world.