⁍ Brent crude LCOc1 was up 19 cents, or 0.5%, at $40.65 a barrel by 0324 GMT.

---

⁍ U.S. oil CLc1 gained 15 cents, or 0.4%, at $38.71 a barrel.

---

– Oil prices have been in freefall lately, and they’re still not out of the woods. MarketWatch reports that the price of a barrel of crude oil dropped below $40 yesterday for the first time since February, as a deadly virus continues to sweep the globe. On Monday, the price fell more than 3%, and it was up a bit this morning, Reuters reports. The biggest reason for the drop? A lack of progress on a US coronavirus relief package, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she hopes a deal can be reached before the Nov. 3 elections. A wave of coronavirus infections sweeping across the United States, Russia, France, and many other countries has undermined the global economic outlook, with record numbers of new cases forcing some countries to impose fresh restrictions as winter looms. “We think demand from this point onwards is really going to struggle to grow. COVID-19 restrictions are all part of that,” an analyst says. Meanwhile, Libyan production is expected to reach 1 million barrels per day in the coming weeks, the country’s national oil company said on Friday, a quicker return than many analysts had predicted. That is likely to complicate efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to restrict output to offset weak demand. OPEC+—made up of OPEC and allies including Russia—is planning to increase production by 2 million bpd from the start of 2021 after record output cuts earlier this year.