Brent crude futures edged lower to trade below $72 a barrel on Thursday, after gaining almost 11% in the previous 3 sessions, as concerns over the spread of the coronavirus delta variant and the impact on global fuel demand persist. Although there were signs that China is bringing its latest outbreak under control, many countries mostly in the Asia-Pacific region including Australia, Japan and New Zealand are battling new outbreaks and fresh curbs. Supply pressures however, failed to continue to boost the oil market heading into the end of the week. Fresh EIA data showed US crude oil inventories fell for the 3rd consecutive week. Pemex has restored about 17% of its oil production, after about a quarter of Mexico’s oil production was cut after a fire on an offshore platform on Sunday.
