Oil prices of benchmark grades fell again on Thursday.
Investors fear that high interest rates may have a negative impact on global economic growth and fuel demand. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points in May and the European Central Bank is expected to hold three more hikes in the next few months, Trading Economics reported.
The price movement shows “evidence that there are still some concerns about the demand outlook,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING.
Brent June futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stood at $82.16 a barrel by 8:23 a.m. Thursday, down $0.96 (1.15%) from the previous session’s close. The day before those contracts fell $1.65 a barrel (nearly 2%) to $83.12 a barrel, the lowest level since March 31.
The price of WTI futures for May crude oil fell by $0.88 (1.1%) to $78.28 per barrel at the electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The contract value decreased by $1.7 (2.1%) to $79.16 per barrel at the end of previous session.
The market was not supported even by the latest data on changes in fuel reserves in the USA.
The country’s oil reserves decreased by 4.58 million barrels last week, the Energy Department said on Wednesday. Experts from S&P Global Commodity Insights expected a reduction of only 400,000 barrels.
Meanwhile, gasoline stocks increased by 1.3 million barrels, while distillate stocks decreased by 355 thousand barrels. Analysts forecasted the reduction of the first indicator by 1.6 million barrels, the second – by 600 thousand barrels.
