THE STAR – Oil prices fell yesterday amid recession fears and a stronger US dollar, though losses were capped by supply concerns after Moscow’s new mobilisation campaign in its war with Ukraine and an apparent deadlock in talks on reviving the Iran nuclear deal.
Brent crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to USD90.00 per barrel at 0630 GMT, while United States (US) West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were also down USD0.46, or 0.55 per cent, to USD83.03.
Front-month Brent and WTI contracts were down 1.4 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively, for the week so far.
“In the wake of accelerating rate hikes by the major central banks, the risk of a global economic recession overshadows supply issues in the oil markets, despite the recent escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war,” said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng.
“However, a sharp fall in the US SPR and drawdown in inventories may still keep oil prices supported at some point as there is still an inevitable undersupply issues in the physical markets, while Iran’s nuclear deal is in stalemate,” she said, referring to crude oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve which dropped last week to its lowest since 1984.
