- Oil Resumes Decline on Thursday After US Travel Ban
Global oil prices resumed bearish trend on Thursday after President Trump announced a 30-day ban on flights from the European region, except the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is measured, declined from $39.59 a barrel it traded on Wednesday to $33.81 per barrel on Thursday.
The U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil dipped from $36.26 per barrel it closed on Wednesday to $31.11 on Thursday.
President Trump, in his address, said: “The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hotspots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe. After consulting with our top government health professionals I have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well-being of all Americans.
“To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight.”
“These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. [Editor’s note: The White House has since clarified that the ban “only applies to human beings, not goods and cargo.”] Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing. These restrictions will also not apply to the United Kingdom.”
This was Saudi Arabia led 14 members failed to convince Russia to support an additional 1.5 million barrels per day cut to prop up global oil prices. While Russia had claimed the door is not entirely closed on OPEC, Saudi had said there is no point since they could not agree on a framework for further discussions.
President Trump’s decision to ban flights from Euro-area on Wednesday further heighten global tension and uncertainty as global investors are now projecting a broad-based slowdown in global growth and economic uncertainty.
Economies are expected to contract with the rising case of coronavirus, especially with zero solution to the virus yet.
Oil and other commodities resumed their decline on Thursday as investors abandoned riskier assets for safe havens.
