US crude oil prices fell in early trade on Monday, taking big losses on Friday, after Japan said over the weekend that it was considering issuing oil reserves to help spur prices.
At the same time, demand concerns are rising with the rise of COVID-19 cases in Europe.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 65 cents, or 0.9%, at $75.25 a barrel at 2327 GMT, hitting their weakest low of $74.76 since October 1.
On Friday, WTI and Brent prices fell by around 3%.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida indicated on Saturday that he was ready to help counter rising oil prices following a request by the United States to release oil from its emergency reserves.
However, Japanese laws only allow the exploitation of reserves in the event of supply constraints or natural disasters.
“We are looking at what we can do legally on the basis that Japan will coordinate with the United States and other relevant countries,” Kishida told reporters.
On the demand side, there are growing concerns that the renewed COVID-19 restrictions could hit demand growth. Germany warned on Friday that it may need to move into a complete lockdown after Austria reimposed strict measures to tackle rising infections.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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