Oil prices fell on Wednesday as the continued rise of ‘Covid-19’ infections in China raised fears of a drop in fuel demand at the world’s largest crude importer.
This situation overshadowed concerns about rising geopolitical tensions and dwindling oil supplies.
Brent crude futures fell 0.6% to $93.26 a barrel by 05:01 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 0.8% to $86.23 a barrel.
Oil prices rose on Tuesday after oil supplies to parts of central and eastern Europe were temporarily halted through part of the Druzhba pipeline, according to pipeline operators in Hungary and Slovakia.
The unrest coincided with an explosion in a village in eastern Poland near the Ukrainian border that killed two people and raised the prospect of a relapse from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In China, the rise in “Covid-19” infections is dent sentiment despite hopes that accompanied the easing of restrictions related to the Corona virus this week.
This weakened expectations for oil demand growth, as the International Energy Agency expected demand growth to slow to 1.6 million bpd in 2023 from 2.1 million bpd this year. ‘year.
Earlier, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2022 for the fifth time since last April due to mounting economic challenges.
Industry data showed a larger-than-expected decline in US crude inventories, which provided some support to oil prices.
U.S. crude oil inventories fell by about 5.8 million barrels in the week ending Nov. 11, according to market sources, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute.
In the US, producer prices rose less than expected last October, indicating that inflation is starting to ease, which could allow the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of interest rate hikes.
