Oil prices are falling at the beginning of the week's trading due to a possible return of Libyan production, at a time when increasing rates of COVID-19 have added to concerns about global demand - despite the fact that a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico has limited losses.
Brent crude is down by more than a dollar to $42.73 a barrel, while US crude fell about $ 1.16 to $40.30 a barrel.
Two engineers working in the main Sharara field in Libya said the workers had returned after the Libyan National Oil Corporation announced a partial lifting of its restrictions on previously blockaded oil facilities, but it was not clear when production would resume.
Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell said on Saturday it had halted some production and had begun evacuating workers from facilities in the Gulf of Mexico as Tropical Storm Sally crossed the tip of Florida.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm was expected to bring about a foot (30 cm) of rain to parts of Texas and coastal Louisiana on Monday night.
Oil and gas producers were to resume their offshore operations over the weekend after already facing disruption from Sally. Around 17% of offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and about 13% of natural gas production stopped operating on Saturday.
