Crude Oil Tumbled Below The $120-Per-Barrel

Brent : crude futures tumbled below the $120-per-barrel level as investors reacted to a bearish report from IEA pointing to slowing demand and rising output.

The International Energy Agency warned about subdued consumption and increasing global inventories amid a worsening outlook for growth and inflation while warning that oil demand should only reach pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

Such a view contrasted with OPEC, which stuck to its forecast that world oil demand will exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2022, but see demand growth slowing next year as surging oil prices help drive up inflation and act as a drag on the global economy.

Elsewhere, oil prices faced pressure on reports that US officials are planning to apply a 21% surtax on oil company profits considered excessive, as well as on news that the US Energy Department was selling 45 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves.