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Futures edged higher for a second day and are up almost 12% this week. Delta regained major hurricane strength and is forecast to slam into the already battered Louisiana coast on Friday after barreling across the Yucatan Peninsula earlier in the week. Prices have also been buoyed by an oil-workers strike in Norway, which is threatening almost a quarter of its the nation’s output.
While oil has climbed back above $41 a barrel, further gains could be limited as fiscal stimulus talks in Washington drag on without resolution at a time when demand continues to be constrained by the pandemic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there could be no action on a stand-alone bill to aid airlines or any other sector of the economy without an agreement on a wider package.
OPEC expects to emerge from the pandemic with a greater share of global oil sales, after 2020’s price downturn battered rivals in the U.S. and elsewhere. The producer cartel has boosted forecasts for the amount of oil it will need to supply over the next four years, shifting last year’s prediction that it would lose market share until the middle of the decade.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
