03 Oct Oil loses 4% on Friday after Trump catches coronavirus
Oil prices fell more than 4% on Friday, and posted a second weekly decline after U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, roiling risky assets, and as rising global crude output threatened to overwhelm the market’s weak recovery.
Brent crude was down $1.66, or 4.1%, at $39.27 a barrel and down 7% on the week. U.S. oil settled down $1.67 or 4.3% at $37.05 a barrel, an 8% drop on the week. Both benchmarks were down for a second consecutive week.
Increasing supply also weighed on the market. U.S. energy firms added oil and natural gas rigs in the latest week, according to energy services firm Baker Hughes Co, a signal of more supply to come. The increase was the third in a row, and came as price increases in recent months prompted some producers to start drilling again. Crude supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose in September by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a month earlier, a Reuters survey showed.
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