Oil on Friday slumped near US$70 to mark a fourth-straight week of losses as concerns about demand growth persist.
West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell 1.17 percent to US$70.04 per barrel, down 1.82 percent from the previous week.
Brent crude for July delivery fell 1.08 percent to US$74.17 per barrel, down 1.5 percent for the week.
Photo: AP
It briefly appeared like West Texas Intermediate would manage to snap its losing streak, supported by signs that Iraqi oil exports likely would not resume yesterday and the US signaling it could purchase crude to refill the strategic reserve after next month.
However, a strong dollar on Friday, which makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, wiped out those gains.
Over the week, oil has been pressured by the physical market showing signs of weakness amid poor refining margins and lackluster buying in some areas.
The world’s two biggest economies demonstrated further evidence of cooling, with US jobless claims rising and China’s recovery waning. Money managers have piled into bearish bets in Brent, sending net longs to the lowest since December last year.
“The near-term momentum in crude futures remains with the bears at least until we see more positive fundamentals from the demand side,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial Securities.
Crude has retreated by about 15 percent over the past month as bearish sentiment has gripped the market. Traders expect the US economy to inch closer to recession and China’s rebound has disappointed some market watchers, putting a question mark over energy demand.
On Friday, Citigroup cut its forecast for Brent crude from US$84 per barrel to average about US$82 per barrel this year with demand continuing to underperform expectations.
So far, that has outweighed the lift from supply cuts announced by OPEC and its allies.
However, further cuts might not be on the table for now, Reuters reported, citing an interview with Iraqi Minister of Oil Hayyan Abdul Ghani.
Prices have found technical support near US$70 and US$75 per barrel so far, but a decline below those levels could send oil tumbling quickly toward the mid-60s, market participants said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
RSS