Washington: Oil prices fell on Monday, weighed down by Chinese economic data considered disappointing, but still contained by the additional sanctions decided by the European Union against the Russian “ghost fleet”. The price of a barrel of Brent BRENT Brent, or North Sea crude, is a variation of crude oil serving as a benchmark in Europe, listed on the InterContinentalExchange (ICE), a stock exchange specializing in energy trading. It became the first international standard for setting oil prices. from the North Sea, for delivery in February, released 0,78% has 73,91 dollars.
Its American equivalent, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI WTI West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also called Texas Light Sweet, is a variation of crude oil that serves as a standard in setting the price of crude and as a raw material for oil futures contracts with the Nymex (New York Mercantile Exchange). ), the stock exchange specializing in energy.), for delivery in January, lost 0,81%has 70,71 dollars.
The world’s largest importer of oil, Chinahas failed to stimulate its economy for several months“, recalled John Kilduff, analyst at Again Capital.
Latest indicator to date: growth in retail sales in China slowed in November, according to official figures published Monday, a sign of consumption still sluggish despite a semblance of recovery the previous month.
Retail sales increased by only 3% over one year in November, announced the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a significant slowdown compared to 4,8% recorded in October.
This figure is significantly lower than the forecasts of analysts surveyed by the Bloomberg agency (5%).
Beijing has announced in recent months a series of measures to support its economy, including a future easing of its monetary policy.
But some experts believe that a more direct budgetary stimulus to boost consumption is necessary to fully restore the health of the Chinese economy.
With retail sales, “the market was therefore called to order“, according to Mr. Kilduff.
The prices of black gold are however contained by “a geopolitical risk premium“in connection with”new sanctions” against the Kremlin, underlined the analyst.
Last Wednesday, European Union member countries agreed to sanction around 50 additional vessels from the “ghost fleet“, which allows Russia to export its oil by circumventing Western restrictions.
Made up of around 600 ships, the “ghost fleet“Russian carries almost 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, London estimated in July.
“The recent effort to put the brakes on these fleets… has attracted the attention of the market and caused prices to rise again.“, according to Mr. Kilduff.
“Crude oil prices appear likely to end 2024 as they started it, with an unfavorable demand outlook (…) despite elevated geopolitical risks to supply arising from ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and in Ukraine“, noted Eurasia Group analysts.
(c) AFP
Commenter Oil falls, concerns around Chinese consumption
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