Oil hit a month low in the face of a possible global recession

Oil prices fell this Thursday, April 19 at your level lowest since the end of March, dragged down by fears that a possible recession could affect fuel demand and after a rise in US gasoline inventories.

Brent crude futures fell $2.02, or 2.4%, to $81.10 a barrel. crude oil futures West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down $1.87, or 2.4%, at $77.29. After suffering a 2% collapse the day before, both benchmarks are in its lowest level since late Marchjust before the unexpected OPEC+ production cut announcement.

“At the end of the day, one of the main reasons we are falling is the fear of recession”said Bob Yawger, executive director of energy futures at Mizuho.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last weekindicating the job market was slowing after a year of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and stoking concerns about a slowdown in fuel demand.

Gasoline inventories unexpectedly increased last week by 1.3 million barrels to 223.5 million barrelsthe US Energy Information Administration said in its report on Wednesday.

Implied gasoline demand fell 3.9% from year-ago levels to 8.5 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, crude inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels, but analysts said the decline could be short-lived.

On the supply side, Oil cargo from Russia’s western ports in April is likely to rise to its highest level since 2019, trading and shipping sources said.

Pakistan has placed its first order for discounted Russian crude under a new deal that could cover 100,000 barrels a day, the country’s oil minister said.

Also weighing on crude oil prices, stock markets, which often move along with oil values, fell after disappointing results from Tesla and other companies.