LONDON, 13 February (Portal) – Oil prices fell around 1% on Monday as investors focused on near-term demand concerns ahead of key US inflation data.
Brent crude futures fell $1.14, or 1.3%, to $85.25 a barrel by 1005 GMT after gaining 2.2% on Friday. US West Texas Intermediate Crude fell $1.11, or 1.3%, to $78.61 after gaining 2.1% in the previous session.
“Crude prices are falling as energy traders anticipate a potentially weaker crude demand outlook as a key inflation report could force the Fed to tighten policy much more aggressively,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA, referring to US -Consumer price data due February 27
“This week could provide a pivotal moment in how bad a recession is priced in on Wall Street.”
The US Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates to curb inflation, prompting fears it will slow economic activity and oil demand.
In addition, supply concerns were somewhat eased by the resumption of Azerbaijani oil exports from Turkey’s Ceyhan terminal on Sunday.
The terminal was damaged by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last week. It is the storage and loading point for pipelines carrying oil from Azerbaijan and Iraq.
last update
Watch 2 more stories
Oil prices were higher on Friday after Russia, the world’s third-largest oil producer, announced it would cut crude oil production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, or about 5% of production, in retaliation for Western restrictions imposed on its exports were in response to the Ukraine conflict.
Both Brent and WTI contracts rose more than 8% last week, buoyed by optimism about the recovery in demand in China after COVID restrictions were lifted in December.
Reporting by Noah Browning Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Emily Chow in Kuala Lumpur Editing by David Goodman
Our standards: The Trust Principles.