“Oil Prices Fall Amidst Concerns Over Interest Rates and Global Economy”

Oil prices

Oil prices fell today, Monday, as concerns about rising interest rates, the global economy and the outlook for fuel demand overshadowed supplies due to the “OPEC +” supply cuts.

Brent crude fell 48 cents to $81.18 a barrel by 0045 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude fell 48 cents to $77.39 a barrel.

The two benchmarks fell more than 5% last week, their first weekly decline in five weeks, as implied demand for gasoline declined from a year ago, raising fears of a recession in the world’s largest oil consumer.

CMC Markets analyst Tina Ting said weak US economic data and disappointing corporate earnings from the technology sector raised concerns about growth and caused investors to turn away from risk. She added that the stability of the dollar and the rise in bond yields are also putting pressure on commodity markets.

Central banks from the United States to Britain and Europe are expected to raise interest rates when they meet in the first week of May to try to rein in soaring inflation.

The unstable recovery of the economy in China after the “Covid-19” pandemic led to uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand, although Chinese customs data showed on Friday that the world’s largest importer of crude brought in record quantities of oil in March.

China’s imports from the two largest oil suppliers, Russia and Saudi Arabia, exceeded two million barrels per day from each.

However, refining margins in Asia fell due to record production from the largest refineries in China and India, which limited the region’s appetite for loading oil supplies from the Middle East in June.

However, analysts and dealers remained optimistic about the recovery of fuel demand in China by the second half of 2023, and with the entry into force of additional supply cuts decided by the OPEC + coalition that includes the member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia. Implementation from May, which may lead to shortages in the market.

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