Oil prices declined on Tuesday as rising COVID-19 cases continued to stoke fears of weaker energy demand.
The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery lost 43 cents to settle at 39.27 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude for August delivery decreased 56 cents to close at 41.15 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. The August contract expired at the end of the session. The more-active September contract for Brent fell 58 cents to 41.27 dollars per barrel.
Experts warned of a "fragile balance" on the oil market, with "positive and negative factors appearing to cancel each other out."
"U.S. economic data for May generally turned out to be better than expected, yet concerns about a second wave of coronavirus infections and possible renewed lockdowns are weighing on sentiment," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Tuesday.
For the quarter, U.S. crude futures gained nearly 92 percent and Brent climbed about 81 percent, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Despite a massive rally in the second quarter, both benchmarks were down more than 30 percent year to date.
Editor:Cherie
