Weak European Data Dent Oil Prices

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a negative outcome for major crude benchmarks in the international market on Monday due to worries about demand following disappointing business activity data in Europe and a weak Chinese economy.

The Brent crude lost 59 cents or 0.8 per cent to trade at $73.90 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by 63 cents or 0.9 per cent to $70.37 a barrel.

Both oil benchmarks rose more than 4 per cent last week, buoyed by the US Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points and signal further reductions in borrowing costs by the end of the year.

However, at the opening session for the week, weak data from the top two economies in the European Union – Germany and France – dented the outcome.

German business activity contracted in September, with the HCOB flash composite PMI falling from 48.4 in August to 47.2 in September, a seven-month low just as the French preliminary composite PMI data, a measure of business activity in the manufacturing and services sector, also fell in September.

Meanwhile, business activity in the US was steady in September, but average prices charged for goods and services rose at the fastest pace in six months, potentially hinting at a pickup in inflation in the coming months.

China, the world’s top oil importer, is battling deflationary pressures and struggling to lift growth despite a series of policy measures aimed at spurring domestic spending.

The market also continues to weigh supply concerns from Israel’s latest airstrikes on Hezbollah, which created more tensions and supported oil prices.

After almost a year of war in Gaza, Israel is shifting its focus to its northern border, across which Hezbollah has been firing rockets in support of its ally Hamas.

Fresh weather worries remain as a potential Tropical Cyclone System 9 intensifies as it moves toward the US Gulf coast, where the brewing storm could turn into a hurricane by Wednesday.

Shell, Chevron, and Norway’s Equinor have all begun evacuating staff from offshore facilities as the threat of the storm means more production shut-ins.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that the tropical cyclone system, which was near western Cuba on Monday, is expected to intensify over the next 72 hours.