SINGAPORE - Brent crude fell below $120 on Monday
as growing worries about the global economy from Europe to China, the
world's No. 2 oil consumer, reinforced concerns about slowing demand for
petroleum.
But the slide in crude prices was
stemmed by lingering concerns that western sanctions could further
disrupt Iranian oil exports.
Front-month
Brent crude slipped $1.28 to $119.93 a barrel by 3:31 a.m. Eastern Time,
after settling at $121.21 a barrel on Friday. U.S. oil slipped 79 cents
to $102.05 a barrel after settling at $102.83.
"The weaker-than-expected Chinese data
appears to be the key driver of the market right now," said Tetsu Emori,
a Tokyo-based commodities fund manager at Astmax Investments.
Data showed that China's economy grew at
the slowest pace in nearly three years in the first quarter, raising
fears that the downward drift will extend into the second quarter and
dampen oil demand.
China's implied oil demand rose
moderately in March over a year earlier, but stood at a five-month low
on a daily basis, as refineries scaled back runs to the lowest level
since October on maintenance and poor refining margins.
A
stronger dollar and a jump in the cost of insuring Spanish debt against
default to a record high on Friday also renewed worries about the
eurozone debt crisis.
A U.S. survey showed consumer sentiment had slipped in early April as higher gasoline prices hit household budgets.
0 comments:
Post a Comment