SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell more than $1 on Tuesday, dropping for a third session as reports of growing inventory and forecasts of record shale output in the United States stoked worries about oversupply.
Concerns over future oil demand amid weakening global economic growth and doubts over the effectiveness of planned production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) also pressured prices, traders said.
International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were at $58.78 per barrel at 0722 GMT, down 83 cents, or 1.39 per cent, from their last close. Brent, which has slipped more than 4 per cent in the past three sessions, fell as far as $58.10 a barrel on Tuesday, down more than $1.50 from the previous day’s close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 87 cents, or 1.74 per cent, at $49.01 per barrel. Both US crude and Brent have shed more than 30 per cent since early October due to swelling global inventories, with WTI now trading at levels not seen since October 2017.
“Rising US shale production levels along with a deceleration in global economic growth has threatened to offset Opec+ efforts as markets weigh the potential of looser fundamentals,” said Benjamin Lu Jiaxuan, an analyst at Singapore-based brokerage firm Phillip Futures. — Reuters
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