Oil futures fell Monday, extending last weeks loss as investors continued to monitor rising COVID19 cases in India and other countries ahead of a meeting later this week of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies a group known as OPEC.

Indias COVID19 nightmare is impacting oil prices and may cause OPEC to cut back production of oil instead of standing pat with the previous agreement to gradually lift production from May through July, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group.

India is recording more than a third of all new COVID19 cases globally each day, or an average of more than 260,000 daily in the last week. India has suffered 195,123 deaths, according to its official numbers, or fourthhighest in the world, although those numbers are understood to be underreported.

There are some estimates that the situation in India could lead to a 300,000 barrel a day reduction in oil demand, and that is weighing on prices, said Flynn, in a note.

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery fell 83 cents, or 1.3, to 61.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude, the global benchmark, was off 95 cents, or 1.5, at 65.16 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

The number of daily cases in India has hit a record of almost 350,000, and while the government has not imposed a national lockdown, we are instead seeing regional restrictions, said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, in a note….