After trading bullish over the past five weeks, WTI crude oil prices extend their decline from the previous session into Tuesday over mounting worries about the spread of the latest variant of the coronavirus across the world. At the time of writing, WTI crude oil is trading at around $72.11 per barrel.

WTI oil lost around 1.5% of its value on Monday and continues to slide lower as markets worry about a spike in fresh COVID-19 cases being reported from around the world due to the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus. This has raised concerns that countries could soon reimpose restrictions and lockdowns again in a bid to combat the spread of infections, which in turn would weaken oil demand.

Spain and Portugal announced restrictions on the entry of unvaccinated British citizens ahead of the peak summer vacation period. Meanwhile, Australia has also imposed strict restrictions once again in response to the resurgence of cases across the nation. According to a latest news report on the Financial Times, the travel corridor between the US and Britain could also run into challenges because of the rise of infections across Britain from the Delta variant.

This puts the upcoming OPEC+ meeting scheduled for later this week in the spotlight. The agenda for the meeting between OPEC and allies is to discuss easing of supply cuts; however, it will be worth watching whether the latest spike in cases could have an impact on their decision.