Oil prices dip as traffic in Suez Canal resumes after stranded Ever Given refloated

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as traders breathed a sigh of relief after the giant cargo ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week was fully floated on Monday and traffic in the waterway resumed.

Brent crude futures for May delivery fell by around 0.5 percent to $64.67 a barrel by 06:00 GMT. NYMEX crude for May delivery also dropped by 0.5 percent to $61.26 a barrel.

The Ever Given, a mega cargo ship almost the length of the Empire State Building, had caused a major traffic jam in the Canal, which has held up oil tankers in the area for days.

The blockage drove oil prices sharply higher, as backlogs of energy shipments built up.

Other factors affected oil prices as well, however, with uncertainty surrounding demand as economies recover and a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel and its allies later this week.