The Brent benchmark oil price fell for a second day on Friday, albeit holding above $70 a barrel, after the International Energy Agency warned that demand growth for crude is slowing sharply owing to the spread of coronavirus variants. Brent crude was down 15 cents, or 0.2%, at $71.16 a barrel by 0931 GMT. U.S. crude was off by 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $68.88. Over the week the benchmarks are up less than 1%. Growth in demand for crude ground to a halt in July and is set to rise at a slower pace over the rest of 2021 because of surging infections from the Delta variant of the coronavirus, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. read more “The sudden about-face by the IEA has shaken nerves and capped the oil rally, bringing home the reality of the impact of the […]