Oil edges lower, shrugging off Gulf of Mexico shut-ins
Oil prices slipped slightly on Monday amid concerns about a stalled global economic recovery and with Libya poised to resume production, and failed to get support from an impending storm which has disrupted U.S. output.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 22 cents, or 0.6%, at $39.61 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 7 cents, or 0.2%, at $37.26 a barrel.
Both contracts ended last week lower, falling for a second week in a row.
Hurricane Sally gained in strength in the Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida on Sunday and was poised to become a category 2 hurricane.
The storm forced energy firms to shut 21.4%, or 395,790 barrels per day (bpd), of offshore crude oil production in the northern Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. government said on Monday.
OPEC cuts 2020 oil demand forecast, trims 2021 outlook on pandemic fallout
OPEC has cut its forecast for oil demand growth this year, citing a weaker-than-expected recovery in India and other Asian countries, and warned risks remain “elevated and skewed to the downside” for the first half of next year.
In a closely-watched monthly report published Monday, the group of oil-producing nations downwardly revised its outlook for global oil demand to an average of 90.2 million barrels per day in 2020. That’s down 400,000 bpd from the previous month’s estimate and reflects a contraction of 9.5 million bpd year-on-year.
The report comes as energy market participants become increasingly concerned about a faltering economic recovery and stumbling fuel demand in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Looking ahead, OPEC said the negative impact on oil demand in Asia was expected to persist through the first six months of 2021.
As such, OPEC now expects global oil demand to grow by 6.6 million bpd to an average of 96.9 million bpd next year. This updated forecast was also 400,000 bpd lower than its previous estimate.
Reference: Reuters,CNBC
Thai
Eng