Oil fell as the dollar strengthened against the euro after two explosions ripped through the Brussels airport departure hall on Tuesday morning.
Futures dropped 0.4% in New York, paring an earlier gain of as much as 0.7%.
At least 34 people were killed in explosions in Brussels and another 35 were severely injured, Belgian broadcaster VRT said. The Belgian crisis centre confirmed there were two explosions at Brussels airport and several victims.
Passengers said bombs went off in rapid succession around 8 a.m. local time, the peak check-in hour for morning flights within Europe. The dollar advanced 0.4% against the euro. A stronger U.S. currency typically diminishes investor demand for dollar-denominated commodities.
“The high risk aversion today, as seen by the somewhat stronger U.S. dollar and falling equity markets in Europe, is also dragging on oil performance,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG.
Oil slumped to a 12-year low this year before rising on speculation that stronger demand and falling U.S. output will ease a global surplus.
The drop in output outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries shows OPEC’s strategy of letting the market rebalance itself is working, Secretary General Abdalla El-Badri said. American crude stockpiles are forecast to rise, keeping supplies at the most since 1930.
West Texas Intermediate for May delivery traded at $41.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 14 cents, at 8:52 a.m. London time. Total volume traded was about 31 percent below the 100-day average. The April contract increased 47 cents to close at $39.91 a barrel on Monday.
Brent for May settlement was 16 cents lower at $41.38 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract rose 34 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $41.54 Monday. The global benchmark crude traded at parity to WTI.