Oil fell due to the rise in the dollar and concerns about demand

Oil prices fell on Monday, as concerns about fuel demand in the United States and China, the world’s two largest consumers, outweighed optimism about tight supplies due to any production cuts from the OPEC + group and the United States resuming purchases of its reserves.

And by 0130 GMT, Brent crude futures fell 43 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $ 73.74 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $ 69.67 a barrel.

Last week, the two benchmarks fell for the fourth week in a row, which is the longest period of continuous decline on a weekly basis since September 2022, due to fears that the United States would enter a recession due to the existence of a “high possibility” of a historical default in the first two weeks of June.

Investors sought safe havens such as the US dollar, which boosted the greenback and made commodities denominated in it more expensive for holders of other currencies.

The OPEC + group, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and oil producers, including Russia, announced in April additional production cuts of about 1.16 million barrels per day, bringing the total reduction in production to 3.66 million barrels per day.

But Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said that Iraq is not expected to participate in further cuts in oil production within the framework of the OPEC + group at the next meeting of the group in June.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told members of the House of Representatives on Thursday that the United States may start buying back oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after completing a congressional-approved sale in June.