Crude oil futures experienced a decline on Tuesday, with prices falling to their lowest levels since early June, marking a third consecutive session of retreat.
The front-month Sep24 ICE Brent futures traded at $78.67 per barrel at 1830 GMT, down from a daily low of $78.43 per barrel and Monday’s settlement of $79.78 per barrel. Simultaneously, Sep24 NYMEX WTI traded at $74.73 per barrel compared to Monday’s settlement of $75.81 per barrel.
This recent downtrend follows the aftermath of the last OPEC+ meeting, where plans to begin scaling back production cuts from October were announced, prompting both benchmarks to test their lowest levels in weeks.
The decline throughout July has been primarily driven by concerns surrounding a slowdown in China’s economic growth, which is expected to impact global oil demand.
Phil Flynn from The Price Futures Group remarked, “The crude oil market is struggling to gain upward momentum despite signs of tightening supplies. Persistent worries about the Chinese economy appear to be a key factor hindering price increases,” while noting that U.S. demand remains resilient.
Citi recently revised down its growth forecast for China to 4.8% from 5% for the year, citing Beijing’s missed Q2 target and further softening economic activity in July.
In the Middle East, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge of a strong response to a recent rocket attack on the Golan Heights, these events have not immediately threatened oil supplies and thus have had minimal impact on oil traders.
Late-session reports of strikes on Beirut helped lift oil prices slightly from their lows, highlighting ongoing geopolitical sensitivities in the region.
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