The oil prices fell on Monday due to concerns about demand and profit-taking following last week’s increases, when the conflict in Middle East It showed no signs of abating.
The Brent crude oil futures They were down 78 cents, or 0.9%, at $82.69 a barrel at 10:30 GMT. While the March US crude oil contract West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which expires Tuesday, was down 33 cents, or 0.4%, at $78.86 on a quiet day. The April WTI contract was down 72 cents, or 0.9%, at $77.74.
Last week, Brent and WTI futures gained 1.5% and 3%, respectively, due to the increasing risk of a worsening conflict in the Middle East.
The forecast of a slowdown in demand for International Energy Agency (IEA) and the higher-than-expected increase in US producer prices in January accentuated concerns about the inflation.
“WTI and Brent fell on Monday morning as investors digested demand fears following a significant rise in US PPI numbers,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, an analyst at Philip Novain a note to Reuters.
Crude oil futures had given up almost all of Friday’s modest gains in early trading on Monday amid some profit-taking selling, added Vandana Hari of Vanda Insights.
Nervousness over demand was amplified on Friday, when monetary policymakers at the United States Federal Reserve They noted the need for “patience” in the face of expectations of interest rate cuts.
The conflict in the Middle East continued over the weekend with Israeli raids that knocked out the second largest hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Source: Ambito
