WTI crude oil looks set to close out this week in the red for the first time in five weeks, amid worries about oil demand failing to improve even as countries emerge out of lockdowns and resume economic activity. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $40.88 per barrel.

Crude oil prices have weakened after recent data from Refinitiv Eikon indicates that crude volumes being imported by China are expected to decline this month after increasing continuously over the past five months. China is the world’s largest importer of crude and is one of the few countries where economic activity has rebounded sharply after the coronavirus pandemic was brought under control.

Meanwhile, a possible supply glut is also weighing on the sentiment among oil traders and keeping crude oil prices under pressure. Oil refiners in the US are expected to delay any increase in production in the near future on account of high levels of diesel inventories.

Even though gasoline stockpiles in the US have declined over the past couple of months as companies curbed production, driving patterns across the country indicate that the demand for fuel has not picked up in recent weeks. Despite lockdown measures being eased, the demand for fuel is yet to pick up.