By Adedapo Adesanya
Brent crude fell on Thursday to $32 per barrel as the coronavirus spread recorded crucial cases, leading to more travel restrictions with the latest being the United States imposing a 30-day ban on foreigners arriving from Europe.
The market fell to the lowest, performing in one of the weakest times in history, adding more pressure on economies already faced by weakened demand, including Nigeria.
The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures was down yesterday by 2.13 percent or 67 cents to $30.75 per barrel.
The United States President, Mr Donald Trump, said on Thursday morning he was suspend human inflow from Europe to his country after the number of coronavirus cases in the United States passed 1,000, crashing the stock market.
The travel ban goes into effect on Friday, March 13 at midnight. The restrictions apply only to foreign nationals, and not US citizens, green card holders or the families of US citizens.
The American government further specified that the ban applies to foreign nationals who have visited 26 countries in Europe that allow unrestricted movement. However, Ireland and the United Kingdom were exempted, although it is not clear why because the virus is also present in the UK.
With this restriction, fuel demand from the UK, one of the biggest consumers of the commodity globally, will also be affected further, along with the worries over the spread added pressure on oil prices.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said it expects oil consumption to have declined by 900,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, noting that in 2020, demand for oil would rise marginally by 400,000 barrels per day.
The body also revised down its price forecast, saying it now expects Brent crude to average $43 per barrel this year, and pegged prices at $37 per barrel during the second quarter as the disease, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has now classified as a pandemic, continues to spread rapidly across the world.
In latest reports, more than 4,600 people have died and over 126,000 infected globally, with 68,000 victims said to have recovered.
Dipo Olowookere