Texas oil fell 2.6% to close at $66.48 a barrel

The price of Texas Intermediate Oil (WTI) closed down 2.6% on Monday to $66.48 a barrel on concerns about a delta-variable spread.

At the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery are down $1.80 from their previous close.

The US benchmark oil extended the recession that made it lose 7% throughout the past week due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the US and China.

Concern about the impact on demand in the energy sector was particularly widespread after the US reported an unexpected weekly increase in domestic crude stocks.

This Monday, new data was weighing on the market pointing to a slowdown in export growth in China in July.

In recent days, the Asian giant has imposed transport restrictions and selective confinement as cases have been discovered.

“With so many countries seeing more cases of the delta variant, it’s hard to estimate the economic impact globally, especially given the degrees of success with the vaccine and different attitudes toward restrictions,” said analyst Craig Erlam of Oanda.

On the other hand, the potential impact of the surge in cases will occur on demand as OPEC and its allies continue to run the production taps month after month after imposing the policy of cuts in April 2020.

For their part, gasoline contracts due in September were offered for two years and ended at $2.23 per gallon, while natural gas contracts for delivery in the same month were offered 8 cents to reach $4.06 per thousand cubic feet.