Benchmark crude oil prices continue to fall.
The market is under pressure from extremely uncertain forecasts for global demand amid an expected increase in supplies, especially from non-OPEC countries, Trading Economics reports.
The price of March futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange at 7:07 a.m. CT is $75.84 per barrel, which is $0.05 (0.07%) lower than at the close of the previous session. On Tuesday, these contracts fell by $1.15 (1.5%) to $75.89 per barrel.
Quotations for February futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) on Wednesday morning fell by $0.06 (0.09%) to $70.32 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, they fell by $1.27 (1.8%) to $70.38 per barrel.
Traders’ attention is focused on the prospects for global oil demand and whether the central banks of the world’s leading countries will be able to ensure a “soft landing” of their economies, said Craig Earlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, as quoted by MarketWatch.
Demand is expected to “remain low due to the global economic downturn and record oil production in the United States,” said Haralampos Pissouros, senior investment analyst at XM.
