The value of January futures on Brent crude at London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $90.27 a barrel by 7:10 a.m. KSC on Friday, $0.49 (0.55%) above the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts fell by $3.08 (3.3%) to $89.78 a barrel at the close of trading on Thursday.
The price of WTI futures for December at electronic trades of NYMEX grew by that time by $0.67 (0.82%) to $82.31 per barrel. By the close of previous trading the cost of those contracts fell by $3.95 (4.6%) to $81.64 a barrel.
Since the beginning of this week Brent has lost about 6% and WTI – 7.5%.
Weak expectations of traders regarding the prospects for oil consumption contributed to the decline in prices. Experts don’t expect rapid recovery of demand for fuel in China, where there was renewed growth of COVID-19, notes Bloomberg agency. In addition, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. forecast a “soft recession” in the U.S. economy next year due to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) raising the benchmark interest rate.
“The oil market can’t ignore the deteriorating demand outlook in the world’s two largest economies,” said Edward Moya, chief energy sector analyst at Oanda Corp. – Demand remains low, even despite the approaching entry into force of the embargo on Russian oil supplies to the European Union.”
