Oil prices down 20 percent in a month as fundamentals weaken

Friday,   09-Nov-2018   09:16 AM (IST)

Oil markets on Friday remained weak as rising supply and concerns of an economic slowdown pressured prices, with U.S. crude now down by 20 percent since early October. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $61.63 per barrel at 0125 GMT, down 4 cents from their last settlement. Front-month Brent crude oil futures (LCOc1) were at $70.79 a barrel, 14 cents above their last close. However, both Brent and WTI have declined by around 20 percent from four-year highs in early October. The decline in prices over the past weeks follows a rally between August and October when crude was pushed up ahead of the re-introduction of sanctions against Iran's oil exports on November 5. These sanctions, however, will unlikely cut as much oil out of the market as initially expected as Washington has granted exemptions to Iran's biggest buyers which will allow them to continue buying limited amounts of crude for at least another six months.