The price of a barrel of Brent, benchmark oil for the Algerian Sahara Blend, stood yesterday morning above the 42 dollar mark while the barrel of WTI flirted with the 40 dollar mark, signaling a positive start to the week on the international markets.

Both barrels had risen around 9% in the past week as Brent prices experienced a backwardation, where oil for immediate delivery is more expensive than oil for delayed delivery. This is usually a sign that supply is tightening. In the United States and Canada, the number of active oil and natural gas wells fell to a historic low, despite the return to activity of some producers following the recent rise in prices. Just as Iraq and Kazakhstan pledged on Thursday to better respect the budget cuts decided within the framework of the OPEC+ agreement.

Oil prices were also supported by a recovery in global fuel demand following the historic drop in April and May during the lockdown imposed by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Despite the current lull in oil, concerns remain in the markets about the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic that could hamper the recovery in demand for fuels.

Indeed, the World Health Organization reported this Sunday a record increase in the number of cases of contamination around the world, with the largest increases reported in the two Americas (North and South). The peaks of contamination in certain areas of the world such as Beijing or in the second most populous province of Australia, Victoria, led the authorities to impose containment in order to stem the spread.

“The potential economic damage of a new wave of anti-Covid measures will in all likelihood continue to contain the enthusiasm of investors”, estimates in this context Michael McCarthy, strategist for the firm CMC Markets quoted by the same source.