Brent prices continued to fall as the US market opened on Monday, and lost nearly 2% to head for the first loss in the last 3 days, on demand concerns in India while the coronavirus continues to spread in most parts of the world.
Brent crude fell 2.0% to $64.74 a barrel, after opening at $66.00, and hit a high of $66.24.
US crude rose 0.8%, and Brent crude futures rose 0.4%, in the second straight daily gain, on hopes of a rebound in fuel demand in the US and Europe.
Oil prices lost around 1.3% last week, in the second weekly loss out of 3 weeks, due to the developments in the Covid-19 crisis in India and Japan.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to get vaccinated and exercise caution, after India's virus cases spiraled to a new world record in a single day.
The number of infections in the last 24 hours has reached about 350K new cases, with deaths also spiking to record levels, due to hospital blaze.
The authorities tightened the lockdown restrictions in large parts of India, which weighs down on fuel demand in the world's third largest oil consumer, which forced refiners to cut operations.
As for Japan, the authorities imposed the third state of emergency in Tokyo and Osaka on Sunday, as the country is struggling to curb the spread of the pandemic after the recent spike in infections.