By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices continued to post losses into the second day on Tuesday as a result of lower economic growth forecast from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a recent round of weak data out of China led to worries over energy demand.
Business Post had reported that oil prices fell on Monday over the trade agreement by the United States and China at the end of last week due to a lack of detail.
Brent crude fell $0.51 or 0.86 percent to $58.84 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled down 70 cents or 1.31 percent at $52.89 per barrel.
The IMF on Tuesday said it sees global economic growth falling to a 3 percent rate this year, the slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis.
Analysts also said oil prices finished off the session’s worst levels despite having given a positive outlook on the proposed trade deal with China announced last Friday.
Concerns over the fallout of a negative outcome to the negotiations between the world’s largest economies on the global economy and also on oil demand are running high and
On its part the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) through its Secretary-General, Mohammad Barkindo said on Tuesday that the oil cartel and its allies would do whatever was in its power to sustain oil market stability beyond 2020.
OPEC, Russia and other producers have since January implemented a deal to cut oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day to support the market.
On the political front, US President Donald Trump on Monday imposed sanctions on Turkey and demanded the NATO ally stop a military incursion in northeast Syria that is rapidly reshaping what is considered the battlefield of the world’s deadliest ongoing war.
Forecasts, however, show that oil could get a boost this week as investors are expecting a drawdown in crude inventories in the United States due to be released by industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, October 16.
Dipo Olowookere