International oil prices continued to decline due to concerns over a decrease in crude oil demand due to the re-proliferation of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns in many countries.
West Texas crude for September closed at $66.59, down $0.70 (1.0%) from the previous day on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
Brent crude for September on the London ICE Futures Exchange is also trading at $68.96, down 0.55 (0.79 percent).
On the same day, the crude oil market seemed to be interested in the spread of delta mutations and the quarantine measures and responses of each country.
According to the New York Times, the U.S. administration is expected to announce that the vaccinated person should be given additional coronavirus eight months after the vaccination is completed.
Oil prices have reflected concerns that further production could be sluggish if demand for crude oil does not increase significantly.
Although the Biden administration issued an unusual statement last week demanding more oil from OPEC-plus oil-producing countries, speculation has been raised that OPEC-plus countries do not need more oil in the future.
Sluggish retail sales indicators also added concerns about economic recovery. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that retail sales in July fell 1.1 percent from the previous month. The decline was bigger than the 0.3 percent drop in market expectations compiled by the Wall Street Journal.
Oil market traders are waiting for weekly indicators of U.S. crude oil stocks by the National Oil Association (API) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
According to experts compiled by S&P Global Plats, the EIA is expected to report a drop in crude oil inventory of about 3.1 million barrels in the week ended on the 13th.
