Oil prices mixed as Middle East tensions rise
Oil prices were mixed in early Asian trade on Monday as concerns over weaker demand from China were offset by rising tensions in the Middle East following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by rebels.
Brent crude futures were down 1 cent at $71.11 a barrel by 1117 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 1 cent at $67.21 a barrel.
Brent fell more than 2.5% last week, while WTI fell 1.2% as analysts projected a supply surplus next year on weak demand despite OPEC+’s decision to delay increasing output and extend deep output cuts until the end of 2026.
Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222), the world’s largest crude exporter, has cut its January 2025 prices to Asian buyers to the lowest since early 2021, it said on Sunday, as weak demand from top importer China weighed on the market.
Meanwhile, Syrian rebels announced on state television on Sunday that they had toppled President al-Assad, wiping out a 50-year family dynasty in a lightning offensive that raised fears of a new wave of instability in the war-torn Middle East.
On the supply side, a rise in the number of oil and gas rigs deployed in the United States last week, indicating increased output from the world’s largest crude producer, also pushed prices lower.
On Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, delayed the start of an oil output increase by three months to April and extended a full phase-out of production cuts by a year to the end of 2026.
Source: Investing.com
