Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oil prices slip on third straight day

1336164
1336164
minus
plus

SINGAPORE: Oil prices slipped for a third consecutive session on Wednesday as the prospect of the US and China striking a trade deal in talks this week dimmed, raising uncertainties for global economic growth and oil demand.


US industry data showing a bigger-than-expected rise in stockpiles at the world’s top oil producer also depressed prices: Brent crude futures fell 27 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $57.97 a barrel by 0148 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $52.38, down 25 cents or 0.5 per cent.


Negotiators from the world’s top two economies will meet in Washington on Thursday and Friday in the latest effort to hammer out a deal aimed at ending a long-running trade dispute that has slowed global economic growth.


But tensions between the pair rose this week after the United States imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials for the detention or abuse of Muslim minorities, while a row escalated over comments by a leading US National Basketball Association official in support of protests in Hong Kong.


The issues have set markets on a risk-aversion course, said Howie Lee, an economist with Singapore’s OCBC bank, even though the global oil market remains in a supply deficit which should in theory support prices at above $60 a barrel.


“The market is just over-bearish at the moment, too focused on the demand side of the equation,” Lee said.


That has even overshadowed the threat of losing at least a third of Ecuador’s oil supply amid anti-government protests in the member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec )that have seriously affected oil output.


Ecuadorean state-run firm Petroamazonas estimates it could lose some 188,000 barrels per day (bpd), or more than a third of its crude production, due to unrest at its facilities. — Reuters


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon