NEW YORK: Oil prices fell about 3% to below $80 a barrel on Friday as surging COVID-19 cases in Europe threatened to slow the economic recovery while investors also weighed a potential release of crude reserves by major economies to cool prices.

       Brent futures for January fell US$2.35, or 2.9%, to settle at $78.89 a barrel.

       U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for December fell $2.91, or 3.6%, to $76.10 on its last day as the front-month. WTI for January, which will soon be the U.S. front-month, was down about $2.65, or 3.4%, to $75.78.

       Both benchmarks declined for the fourth consecutive week, for the first time since March 2020.

       "The fear of the unknown is weighing on market sentiment," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures in Chicago. "The worry is that we will get some sort of coordinated release during the Thanksgiving Holiday next week, when volumes are typically low and dramatic moves have occurred."

       Austria became the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full coronavirus lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of COVID-19 infections across the region.- Reuters