Petroleum prices fell to their lowest point in over two months on Friday, as fears raised by the Covid-19 strain about an increase in demand and a slowdown of supply.

The broad market sell-off caused the leg to drop. the Dow dropping more than 900 points. World Health Organization warned Thursday of a new Covid variantSouth Africa. It may be resistant to vaccinations due to mutations. The WHO however stated further investigations are necessary.

U.S. oilFor its worst day in April 2020, it fell 11.8% (or $9.28) to $69.15/barrel. Brent crude futuresThe barrel price dropped 10.5% or $8.66 to $73.56

Both contracts show a 5th consecutive week of losses, the first since March 2020.

Supply is expected to rise at the same time as travel decreases and new lockdowns.

“It seems like the discovery of COVID-19 in southern Africa is shaking markets all over. John Kilduff (partner at Again Capital) stated that Germany already restricts travel from many countries within the affected area. He said, “The oil complex doesn’t need another threat to air travel recovery.”

The Tuesday Biden Administration announced plansThe Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be able to supply 50 million barrels per day of oil. The move is part of a global effort by energy-consuming nations to calm 2021′s rapid rise in fuel prices. The U.K., India, China, Japan and South Korea will all also be releasing some of their reserves.

“This [the sell-off]Commerzbank analysts noted that this is due to concern about an oversupply of oil in the US, and the other large consumer countries in the US. Also, the continued rise in coronavirus infections. The financial markets are now more cautious due to the discovery of a new transmissible virus in South Africa.

OPEC, its oil-producing partners will meet Dec. 2, to discuss their production policies for January and beyond. Slowly, the group is easing the historical output cuts that it made in April 2020 when the coronavirus reduced demand for petroleum products. It has restored approximately 400,000 barrels each day to the market.

Despite repeated calls from the White House to raise output in response to rising oil prices, the group did not change its steady taper. Brent reached a new three-year record, and West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures reached a seven year high in October.

U.S. Oil is down by more than $15, compared to its October peak of $85.41.

“The SPR coordinated release is now getting a second eye, even though OPEC has decried it and claimed that the release would tip the global markets back to surplus. Kilduff added that this release is more than just an occasional drop in the bucket.

Energy stocks followed oil lower on Friday, and the group was the worst-performing S&P 500 sector, falling more than 5%. Devon Energy and APA suffered the greatest losses. Each stock fell more than 10%.