Commodities
Oil prices fall, weekly 7% drop on China demand woes, mixed Mideast outlook
By Georgina McCartney
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil futures fell on Friday, declining more than 7% on the week after data showed China’s economic growth slowed and investors digested a mixed Middle East outlook.
futures fell $1.39, or 1.87%, to $73.06 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at$69.22 a barrel, down $1.45 or 2.05%.
Brent settled more than 7% lower this week, while WTI lost around 8%, marking their biggest weekly declines since Sept. 2, when OPEC and the International Energy Agency cut their forecasts for global oil demand in 2024 and 2025.
In China, the world’s top oil importer, the economy grew at the slowest pace since early 2023 in the third quarter, though September consumption and industrial output beat forecasts.
“China is key to the demand side of the equation so that is very much weighing on prices here today,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.
China’s refinery output declined for the sixth straight month as thin refining margins and weak fuel consumption curbed processing.
“We cannot ignore the impact of electric vehicles in China,” said Neil Atkinson, Paris-based independent energy analyst and former head of the oil division at the IEA.
“There are various factors at play here, economic weakness in China but also the move towards the electrification of transport.”
Electric vehicle sales in China jumped 42% in August and reached a record high of over one million vehicles.
Meanwhile, China’s central bank rolled out two funding schemes that will initially pump 800 billion yuan ($112.38 billion) into the stock market through newly created monetary policy tools.
“Chinese data shows tentative signs of improvement, but recent briefings on additional economic stimulus left market participants underwhelmed,” said Rishi Rajanala, associate at Aegis Hedging.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday there was an opportunity to deal with Israel and Iran in a way that potentially ends their conflict in the Middle East for a while.
“We lost additional parts of the geopolitical risk premium in the price of oil on talks of this all reaching an end point,” said Again Capital’s Kilduff.
Biden, on a visit to Berlin, also told reporters he has an understanding of how and when Israel will respond to the missile attacks by Iran, something investors continue to anxiously wait for, said Alex Hodes, analyst at energy brokerage StoneX, said in a note.
After the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group said on Friday it was moving to a new and escalating phase as it battles Israeli troops.
This dashed hopes earlier on Friday that Sinwar’s death would speed up an end to escalating war in the Middle East.
In the U.S., crude production smashed another record last week, according to the Energy Information Administration on Thursday, as output rose by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the week to Oct. 11 to 13.5 million bpd, from its previous peak of 13.4 million bpd first hit two months ago.
Helping to give prices a floor, the EIA also said oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week.
And U.S. retail sales increased slightly more than expected in September, with investors still pricing in a 92% chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in November.
“Positive U.S. economic data has helped alleviate some growth concerns, but market participants continue to monitor potential demand recovery in China following recent stimulus measures,” said Hani Abuagla, senior market analyst at XTB MENA.
By Enes Tunagur
(Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Friday as analysts continued to forecast a supply surplus in 2025 despite the OPEC+ decision to postpone planned supply increases and extend deep output cuts to the end of 2026.
futures were down 66 cents, or 0.9%, to $71.43 per barrel at 1128 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 65 cents, or 1%, to $67.65 per barrel.
For the week, Brent was on track to fall 2%, while WTI was on course for a 0.5% drop.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies on Thursday pushed back the start of oil output rises by three months until April and extended the full unwinding of cuts by a year until the end of 2026.
The group, known as OPEC+ and responsible for about half of the world’s oil output, was planning to start unwinding cuts from October 2024, but a slowdown in global demand – especially in China – and rising output elsewhere have forced it to postpone the plan several times.
“The outcome of the latest meeting of OPEC+ members surprised us positively … The extension of the production cuts shows the group remains united and is still targeting to keep the oil market in balance,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Pressuring prices on Friday, analysts reiterated expectations of a supply surplus next year, although some of them now view a smaller surplus than before.
Bank of America forecasts increasing oil surpluses to drive Brent to average $65 a barrel in 2025, while expecting oil demand growth to rebound to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) next year, the bank said in a note on Friday.
HSBC, meanwhile, now expects a smaller oil market surplus of 0.2 million bpd, from 0.5 million bpd previously, it said in a note.
Brent has largely stayed in a tight range of $70-75 per barrel in the past month, as investors weighed weak demand signals in China and heightened geopolitical risk in the Middle East.
“The general narrative is that the market is stuck in its rather narrow range. While immediate developments might push it out of this range on the upside briefly, the medium-term view remains rather pessimistic,” PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.
By Paul Carsten
LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices pared some gains on Thursday after a source told Reuters OPEC+ has agreed to delay a planned oil output hike until April 2025.
was up 24 cents, or 0.3%, to $72.55 a barrel at 1237 GMT. It had been at $72.84 before Reuters reported the delay.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 25 cents, 0.4%, and was trading at $68.79 a barrel.
The planned delay comes as OPEC+, made up the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus allies including Russia, tries to support prices as it wrestles with weak demand, notably from China, and rising supply outside the producer group.
“It will not make next year’s oil balance tight and supply surplus is still anticipated,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM. “This view was mirrored in the gut price reaction.”
There remains the question of how long the delays could last, with this only the latest in a series. OPEC+ was originally due to begin raising output in October as part of a plan to gradually unwind the group’s most recent layer of output curbs of 2.2 million barrels per day.
“They reiterate that these barrels will indeed come back,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB. “It’s a limited time frame. This means there is no upside to the oil price in the next couple of years.”
Elsewhere, a larger-than-expected draw in stockpiles last week also provided some support to prices.
In the Middle East, Israel said on Tuesday it would return to war with Hezbollah if their truce collapses and its attacks would go deeper into Lebanon and target the state itself.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has travelled to Qatar and Israel to kick-start the U.S. President-elect’s diplomatic push to help reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.
On Thursday, OPEC+ is expected to postpone its planned increase in oil production, which was initially scheduled to commence in January, Reuters reported.
The decision to maintain current output levels aims to provide additional support for the oil market. The group, responsible for about half of the world’s oil supply, had intended to start easing output restrictions through 2025 but is now reconsidering in light of a global demand slowdown and increased production from non-member countries.
The consortium’s plan to unwind output cuts has faced challenges due to these market conditions, which have also exerted downward pressure on oil prices.
Accordingly, an extension of the current output cuts for an additional three months is the most probable outcome of the online meeting. However, there are indications that an even longer extension could be under consideration.
The deliberations within OPEC+ reflect the group’s ongoing efforts to balance oil supply with fluctuating global demand. The decision to delay the increase in output is seen as a measure to stabilize the market, which has been affected by various economic factors.
Market participants are closely monitoring the developments from OPEC+’s meeting, as the group’s decisions have significant implications for global oil supply and pricing. The final outcome of the meeting, including the length of the extension, will be determined by the consensus of the member countries.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.
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