Brent crude oil prices drop on demand fears
Brent crude oil prices fell more than $1 a barrel on Monday morning as economic worries from the U.S.-China trade war were pressuring demand.
Brent crude futures settled at $65.86 a barrel, down $1.01, or 1.51%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $62.05 a barrel, down 97 cents or 1.545%.
Brent futures rose marginally in the previous two sessions, but finished last Friday with a weekly loss of more than 1%.
The U.S.-China trade war is dominating investor sentiment in moving oil prices, said analyst John Evans of brokerage PVM, superseding nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran and discord within the OPEC+ coalition.
"This wait-and-see attitude coming out of the U.S.-China talks is leaving a bad taste in peoples' mouths," said Gary Cunningham, director of market research for Tradition Energy. "If the talks go bad, you could see a drop in demand for oil from China."
Markets have been rocked by conflicting signals from U.S. President Donald Trump and Beijing over what progress was being made to de-escalate a trade war that could sap global growth.
Source: Reuters
