Oil prices fell sharply on Sunday. Brent crude oil dropped below $72 per barrel due to weak demand and news that Libya might soon restart its crude oil exports.
In early Asian trading on September 8, crude oil futures were down because Brent prices had already fallen below $75 per barrel earlier in the week, mainly due to slow demand.
At the time of the report, WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude was trading at $67.67 per barrel, which is a decrease of 2.14 percent or $1.48 from the previous day. Brent crude was trading at $71.06 per barrel, down 2.24 percent or $1.63, as of 13:17 PKT.
Many analysts on X (formerly Twitter) believe that Brent crude oil prices are unlikely to rise above $90 per barrel this year. They think that a significant escalation in conflicts involving key oil-producing countries, such as if Israel’s actions against Palestine become more severe, could change this. However, unless such situations occur, prices are expected to stay in the range of $70 to $90 per barrel.
OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is expected to keep cutting oil production for the rest of this year. There might be some easing of these cuts in early 2025, which could help stabilize prices within the $70 to $90 range.
Other factors affecting oil prices include concerns about reduced demand from China and ongoing issues with oil exports from Libya. Even though U.S. crude oil stockpiles decreased by 6.9 million barrels last week, Brent crude prices are currently at their lowest level since June 2023.
Bank of America has lowered its forecast for Brent crude prices in the second half of 2024 from $90 to $75 per barrel. Analysts expect oil prices to remain volatile due to a global economic slowdown and weak demand from China. Despite this, the reduction in U.S. oil inventories and OPEC’s production cuts are providing some support for oil prices.
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