China is preparing to impose a new national security law in Hong Kong, which has led to warnings from President Donald Trump. Beijing also decided not to set a GDP growth target this year, as expected at this time, since the pandemic has already devastated the country’s activity.
The Brent crude was down $ 1.69, or 4.69%, at $ 34.27 a barrel, after previously giving in to a flat on the day of $ 33.54. Meanwhile, US WTI crude was down $ 1.9, or 5.6%, at $ 32.02 a barrel.
“Investors are once again having to face an increasingly active verbal war between the United States and China,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM brokerage. “The coronavirus has nullified a decade of growth in global oil demand and the recovery will be slow.”
Oil prices collapsed in 2020 and the benchmark Brent plummeted to a 21-year low of $ 16 in April, while US crude traded below zero.
With fuel usage on the rise and supply cuts already beginning, Brent has more than doubled in price and was on track to post its fourth consecutive week of earnings on Friday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC +, has been cutting oil supplies to a record level of 9.7 million barrels per day since May 1, in order to support prices in the market.
OPEC + oil export figures got off to a solid start. In a sign that oversupply may be easing, US oil inventories fell last week.
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