Crude oil futures ended marginally lower on Monday, falling sharply from the day's highs during the closing minutes of the session. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the next phase of England's lockdown reopening will be delayed by four weeks due to a surge of the Delta variant of Covid-19, weighing on oil prices. Traders weighed the prospects of Iranian oil returning to the market amid talks the sanctions on Iran may be lifted sometime in the foreseeable future.
Crude oil futures for July fell $0.03 or 0.04 percent to settle at $70.88 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, August Brent crude gained $0.17 to settle at $72.86 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.