© Archyde.com. An oil field in Texas in a photo from the Archyde.com archive.
from Ahmed Ghaddar
LONDON (Archyde.com) – It fell on Thursday following posting sharp losses in the previous session, as China’s extension of lockdown measures to curb the spread of the Corona virus exacerbated fears of a slowdown in global economic activity, hurting demand.
Crude futures lost 40 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 87.60 a barrel by 1002 GMT, close to the low recorded in late January.
US crude futures fell 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.53 a barrel, close to the mid-January low.
The Chinese city of Chengdu extended a lockdown covering the majority of its more than 21 million residents on Thursday to stem the spread of COVID-19, while millions more in other parts of the country were asked to avoid upcoming holidays.
However, prices received a boost from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to halt the country’s oil and gas exports if European buyers impose a price ceiling.
The European Union proposed capping the price of Russian gas only hours later, raising the prospect of supply rationing in some of the world’s richest countries this winter if Moscow carries out its threat. Russia’s Gazprom has already halted flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, cutting off a significant portion of supplies to Europe.
JP Morgan said that OPEC + may need to cut production by 1 million barrels per day “to stem downward pressures in prices.”
OPEC +, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, agreed on Monday to cut production by 100,000 barrels per day in October.
(Prepared by Mustafa Saleh and Doaa Muhammad for the Arabic Bulletin – Editing by Suha Jado)
