Oil settles at July low, dragging Brent below $80 as OPEC demand talk ignored
Investing.com — Saudi Arabia and other oil producers can talk all they want about the so-called “demand” for oil. But the market isn’t buying it, sending global crude benchmark below $80 a barrel — the first time since July.
Crude prices settled at four-month lows after tumbling hard for a second day in a row. The selloff came as assurances by OPEC+ that all was well on the oil consumption front failed to calm a skittish market reacting partly to weak economic data out of top oil importer China, the loss of any war premium risk from the Israel-Hamas conflict and a stronger dollar — the currency that oil trades on.
But more than all that on Wednesday was the absence of weekly US inventory numbers from the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, due to a reworking of its data gathering methodology. That raised questions on how well demand could have fared for the week ended Nov 3, especially after the American Petroleum Institute, or API, suggested in its own data that US crude inventories surged almost 12 million barrels last week, versus trade expectations for a draw of 300,000 barrels.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude for December delivery, settled at $75.33 per barrel, down $2.04, or 2.6% on the day, adding to Tuesday’s 4.3% drop. It was WTI's lowest settlement since July 11.
The US crude benchmark has fallen nearly 7% since the start of November, adding to October’s torrid 11% loss.
UK-origin Brent crude’s most-active January contract settled at $79.54, down $2.07, or 2.5%. Brent’s session low was $79.22, its first below the $80 mark since July 20.
For Brent, this month’s drop of about 6% comes on top of October’s 11% plunge.
“Trade data from China on Tuesday further soured the mood and
Read more on investing.com
