WTI crude oil has started the fresh trading week by losing over 1% of its value, continuing to trade bearish since the previous week, over rising concerns about the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic across the US and Europe. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $39.05 per barrel.

Over the past week, WTI crude oil lost around 2.5% of its value, and in early trading on Monday, it was down by around 1.3% amid the resurgence in new cases. The US and France reported record number of cases, raising concerns that the fresh spike could force governments to bring back more lockdown measures, which could once again impact oil demand.

Crude oil prices are also trading under pressure due to worries about increased supply even amid weakness in demand. After ending several months of blockade, Libya’s National Oil Corp has confirmed that oil production could reach 1 million bpd within the next four weeks – a faster than expected pace of growth.

Oil traders are also concerned about OPEC and its allies ending their deeper supply cuts and increasing production by 2 million bpd starting January 2021. However, with the resurgence in cases, the higher supply from leading oil producing nations could potentially create a glut in markets and weaken crude oil prices further.