Noor Trends News, Technical Analysis, Educational Tools and Recommendations
Oil prices hovered near a two-month low on Monday as supply concerns eased while worries about fuel demand in China and rising interest rates overshadowed prices.
Brent crude futures for January fell 28 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $87.34 a barrel by 0103 GMT, after settling at their lowest since September 27.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for December were at $80 a barrel, down 8 cents, before the contract expires later in the day. The most active January contracts fell 21 cents to $79.90 a barrel.
Both benchmarks closed Friday at their lowest since Sept. 27, extending losses for a second week, with Brent down 9 percent and WTI down 10 percent.
Europe’s meager crude supplies fell as refiners stockpiled ahead of the European Union’s ban on Russian crude taking effect on Dec. 5, putting pressure on physical crude markets across Europe, Africa and the United States.
The European Union’s energy policy chief told Reuters that the EU expects to complete its regulations in time to implement the G7 plan to cap the price of Russian crude on December 5.
Diesel markets remained tight, with Europe and the United States competing for supplies. While China doubled its diesel exports in October from the previous year to 1.06 million tons, the volume was much lower than September’s exports of 1.73 million tons.
Fuel demand for the world’s largest crude importer remains weak due to restrictions imposed by China to combat COVID-19, while expectations of further interest rate hikes in other countries have led to a rally in the dollar, making dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for investors.
