Oil fell below $38 for the first time since June 1

Oil prices have been falling over the past few days due to COVID-19 risks and U.S. election uncertainty. The current quotation for Brent is $37.40 per barrel, WTI is $35.10 per barrel. Similar values ​​were observed only at the beginning of June of this year.

The rise in crude oil inventories in the United States is also weighing on the oil market. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy was released yesterday, according to which commercial oil reserves in the week of October 17-23 increased by 4.3 million barrels, which was the strongest weekly growth since July. In the previous two weeks, oil reserves were declining. Analysts predicted an increase in stocks of only 200 thousand barrels.

Additional pressure on oil quotes is exerted by other factors, including fears of oversupply and weakening demand for fuel, as well as the expected recovery of oil production in Libya to 500 thousand barrels per day after a long period of stoppage of production.