Beware the quantum computers
Today’s encryption technology will be putty in the hands of those running the post-quantum world. How equipped ...
Oil prices fell more than 1 per cent as fresh coronavirus lockdowns revived worries about demand for oil products, even as tug boats struggled to move a stranded container ship blocking crude oil carriers in the Suez Canal.
Brent crude futures slid 87 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $63.54 a barrel at 0405 GMT, after jumping 6 per cent overnight.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by $1.02, or 1.7 per cent, to $60.16 a barrel, after climbing 5.9 per cent overnight.
Prices, which tumbled earlier in the week on worries about tighter pandemic curbs in Europe and vaccine delays stalling fuel demand growth, sharply reversed on Wednesday on news of the grounding in the Suez Canal, potentially blocking 10 tankers carrying 13 million barrels of oil.
Dozens of ships were in the five waiting zones for passage through the nearly 200 km (120 mile) canal, with more approaching the area.
"The longer this disruption lasts, the more likely we see refiners (and) buyers having to turn to the spot market to ensure supply from elsewhere," ING Economics said, adding that shipping companies faced a decision on whether to travel via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, causing delays.
The market was also helped on Wednesday by data showing US gasoline demand improved and refinery run rates were picking up.
However, analysts said such supportive factors were likely to be overshadowed by growing concerns about global demand.
"As much as those factors were there, it doesn't really erase the demand concerns questions that were asked earlier this week," said Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst Vivek Dhar.
"And while the focus was on Europe, we also have rising Covid-19 cases in places like India and Brazil, developing economies which are really critical to the story for sustainable oil demand growth."
India on Wednesday reported its highest one-day tally of new infections and deaths and said a new "double mutant" variant of the coronavirus had been found.
Given the persistent demand worries and falling prices, expectations are growing that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, will roll over their current supply curbs into May at a meeting scheduled for April 1, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters.
Today’s encryption technology will be putty in the hands of those running the post-quantum world. How equipped ...
Rocketship’s Anand Rajaraman on getting pitches from places like Rameswaram and Patna
Bengaluru-based Archeron group plans to open five banks that are run entirely by AI and quantum technologies
Ably skippered by N Srinivasan, India Cements is upping its post-Covid-19 game by expanding capacity
Three-in-one: Passive debt funds come at a low cost and have high-quality portfolios. Some offer return ...
Trend in the rupee movement and Q4 earnings can give direction to the market
There is room for improvement in fund transfer options
Silver looks positive but lacks the higher volumes required to substantiate bullishness
In an age of falling female workforce participation, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, policy makers and ...
An ode to writer and great-uncle Ved Mehta, and Ekarat, the friend who wrote and quit on his own terms
A market run by women tells the inspiring story of female entrepreneurship in the North East
Murder is a theme that is unlikely to darken and yellow with time, the writer Truman Capote had once said.
Marketers are padded up, sponsorship deals have been struck, and campaigns are rolling out. Now let the games ...
And what marketers can possibly do to bring it back in our lives
The agency has changed form over the years but its lustre has not dimmed
Media Factory has purchased the majority stake held by Sam and Lara Balsara of Madison World in Madison Media ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...