Oil prices were mixed in early Asian trade on Monday, as concerns over weak Chinese demand were offset by growing tensions in the Middle East following rebels' overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Brent oil futures were down 1 cent at $71.11 a barrel by 1117 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 1 cent to $67.21 a barrel.
Brent lost more than 2.5% last week, while WTI saw a 1.2% decline, with analysts forecasting a supply surplus next year due to weak demand despite the decision of OPEC+ to delay production increases and extend deep production cuts until the end of 2026.
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest crude exporter, cut its January 2025 prices for Asian buyers to the lowest level since early 2021, it said on Sunday, as weak demand from China, main importer, weighs on the market.
Meanwhile, Syrian rebels announced on state television on Sunday that they had ousted President al-Assad, eliminating a 50-year-old family dynasty, in a lightning offensive that raised fears of a new wave of instability in a Middle East plagued by war.
On the supply side, an increase in the number of oil and gas rigs deployed in the United States last week, indicating an increase in production from the world's largest crude producer, also pushed prices higher. drop.
On Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, pushed back the start of oil production increases by three months, to April, and extended d 'one year, until the end of 2026, the complete unwinding of the reductions.
