Oil prices fell modestly on Monday as investors continued to gauge the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery slid 2 cents to settle at 40.63 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery lost 4 cents to close at 43.10 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The pandemic is expected to reinforce the existing trends toward shorter supply chains and greater automation and digitalization, which would potentially impact the energy market, experts noted.
"These mega trends, coupled with increased working from home, are likely to lead in the medium to long term to reduced growth in fuel demand," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Monday.
"While the risks on the demand side are weighing on prices, the good discipline with OPEC+ is lending support," Weinberg added.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to extend the historic 9.7 million barrels per day production cut till the end of July, in order to tackle a supply glut amid the coronavirus crisis.
Editor:Cherie
