Brent Crude: Oil fell toward $94 per barrel on Friday and were down nearly 10% so far this week, with prices hitting the lowest levels in six months on growing concerns that a global economic slowdown has precipitated a demand destruction.
Official data showed that US crude inventories expanded significantly last week despite expectations for a decline,
while US gasoline demand dropped well below pre-Covid seasonal norms. Oil prices also wiped out all the gains triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid signs that tight physical markets started to ease and as aggressive interest rate hikes across the globe sparked demand concerns.
This week’s slump also came even after Saudi Arabia raised oil prices for Asian buyers to a record, and despite OPEC’s decision to raise oil output scantily for September and warning of “severely limited” spare capacity.
