Vitol, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, sees little scope for oil rally in the fourth quarter as global demand is slowing due to new coronavirus-related restrictions, according to Bloomberg.
“The conventional wisdom going into the fourth quarter was that things were going to improve,” Vitol Group executive committee member Chris Bake said during a conference call hosted by Dubai consultant Gulf Intelligence, and added that, “it doesn’t feel like we have a huge catalyst and demand is more uncertain.”
Several European nations have recently reimposed restrictions on travel and social gathering due to a resurgence of coronavirus cases across the continent.
Brent oil is currently trading near $40, having declined from $43.78 to $36.13 in the nine trading days to Sept. 8.