TLTP
\nRIYADH
\nOil prices were traded down more than 1 percent on Monday after hitting their lowest since July, as Saudi Arabia made the deepest monthly price cuts for supply to Asia in five months and optimism about demand recovery cooled amid the pandemic.
\nBrent crude was at $42.11 a barrel, down 55 cents or 1.3 percent by 06:42 GMT, after earlier sliding to $41.51, the lowest since July 30.
\nUS West Texas Intermediate crude skidded 64 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $39.13 a barrel after earlier dropping to $38.55, the lowest since July 10.
\nThe world remains awash with crude and fuel despite supply cuts by the OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, and government efforts to stimulate the global economy and oil demand. Refiners have reduced their fuel output as a result, causing oil producers such as Saudi Arabia to cut prices to offset the falling crude demand.
\n\u201cSentiment has turned sour and there might be some selling pressure ahead,\u201d Howie Lee, an economist at Singapore\u2019s OCBC bank said.
\nThe Labor Day holiday on Monday marks the traditional end of the peak summer demand season in the US, and that renewed investors\u2019 focus on the current lacklustre fuel demand in the world\u2019s biggest oil user.
\nChina, the world\u2019s biggest oil importer which has been supporting prices with record purchases, slowed its intake in August and increased its products exports, according to customs data on Monday.
\n\u201cThere are so many uncertainties with regard to the Chinese economy and their relationship with key industrialized countries, with the US and, these days, even Europe,\u201d Keisuke Sadamori, director for energy markets and security at the International Energy Agency told.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not such an optimistic situation – that casts some shadow over the growth outlook.\u201d
\nSaudi Arabia, the world\u2019s top oil exporter, cut the October official selling price for Arab Light crude it sells to Asia by the most since May, indicating demand remains weak. Asia is Saudi Arabia\u2019s largest market by region.
\nIn August, the OPEC+ group eased production cuts to 7.7 million barrels per day after global oil prices improved from historic lows caused by the coronavirus pandemic cutting fuel demand.
\nOil is also under pressure as US companies increased their drilling for new supply after the recent recovery in oil prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP RIYADH Oil prices were traded down more than 1 percent on Monday after hitting their lowest since July, as Saudi Arabia made the deepest monthly price cuts for supply to Asia in five months and optimism about demand recovery cooled amid the pandemic. Brent crude was at $42.11 a barrel, down 55 cents or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n