Oil falls on fears of second coronavirus wave, rise in U.S. inventories

Oil prices plunged on Wednesday due to fears of a possible second coronavirus wave and a continuous rise in U.S. crude inventories. 

Market worries dwarfed Saudi Arabia’s call for further output cuts to buoy prices amid demand slump.

Brent crude fell 1.3%, or 40 cents, at $29.58 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 0.4%, or 10 cents, at $25.68 per barrel. 

Infectious disease experts warned that easing lockdowns could result in a new outbreak of the virus. 

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet called on OPEC+ countries to further production cuts. The country plans to cut another 1 million bpd in June.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp will slash crude exports by demanding customers to cut 5% of their cargoes. 

In the United States, crude oil inventories rose by 7.6 million barrels last week, bringing the total to 526.2 million barrels.