Oil prices ended August with a decline and continue to fall
Oil prices ended August with a decline and continue to fall on the first day of September.
At the end of the past month, Brent fell in price by 12.3%, WTI – by 9.2%, and negative dynamics was noted for the third month in a row, which is the longest such period since the first half of 2020.
The price of November Brent futures on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:45 Moscow time was $95.06 per barrel, which is $0.58 (0.61%) lower than the closing price of the previous session. As a result of trading on Wednesday, these contracts fell by $2.2 (2.3%) to $95.64 per barrel.
The price of futures for WTI oil for October in the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time was $88.98 per barrel, which is $0.57 (0.64%) lower than the final value of the previous session. By the close of the market the day before, the cost of these contracts decreased by $2.09 (2.3%) to $89.55 per barrel.
The pressure on the market is exerted by fears of a recession in the global economy amid tightening monetary policy by the world’s largest central banks, as well as coronavirus restrictions in force in China, Bloomberg notes.
“Concerns about the state of the economy are a key reason for the oil market to fall,” said James Williams, an energy analyst at WTRG Economics, quoted by Market Watch.
“OPEC has expressed concern about the prospects for demand, and at times the cartel representatives raise the issue of lowering quotas. The possibility of a recession now occupies a high place in OPEC’s thinking,” the expert notes.