*Surge in European Cases Dampens Sentiment
An increase in cases across the continent is threatening the recovery of Europe, as a second wave gains momentum. France, Spain and Germany have all recorded jump sin the number of infected persons, with Spain being the worst hit as cases climbed to 1772 in the last 24 hours. This made futures prospects look bleak on top of the news of job cuts being announced as companies struggled to deal with the economic downturn.
*Iraq to Make Additional Production Cuts
According to Reuters, Iraq will be making extra production cuts to make up for its previous overproduction. The country said it would make an extra 400,000 bpd in August on top of cutting output by 1.06 million bpd under the new OPEC+ deal.
*Stena Using Cooking Oil as Fuel
Stena Bulk AB, one of the world’s biggest tanker lines, plans to run some of its ships on used cooking oil to offer customers a way to offset their pollution Bloomberg has reported. The company tested the new fuel blend for a 10-day voyage from Rotterdam to the United States. The environmental benefit does come at a cost of $100 more a tonne, however the company will be using this new fuel as part of a carbon offsetting programme and not rolling it out to every vessel.