Oil prices fell more than 3% on Wednesday (August 8) as trade disputes between the US and China escalated further, and previous Chinese import data showed a decline in energy demand.
Brent crude fell 2.37 US dollars, or 3.17%, and the settlement price was 72.28 US dollars per barrel. US crude oil fell 2.23 US dollars, or 3.22%, the settlement price reported 66.94 US dollars per barrel. The daily low is seen at $66.32, the lowest since June 22.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday that China will impose a 25% tariff on US$16 billion in imports from the United States, covering oil, steel products, automobiles and medical equipment. The trade war escalation has stirred up the global market. Investors are worried that the slowdown in growth in the world's two largest economies will hit commodity demand.
"The trade war between the United States and China will deteriorate and will gradually affect the price of oil as the situation develops," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy. "The crude oil and refined products are affected by additional tariffs and will be reduced in the Chinese market. Competitiveness."
In July, China's crude oil imports rebounded slightly, after falling for two consecutive months, but still at a low level, as the demand for smaller independent refineries declined. According to China Customs data, China’s daily import volume of the world’s largest crude oil importer rose to 8.48 million barrels last month, compared with 8.18 million barrels in the same period last year and 8.36 million barrels in June. However, imports in July are still the third lowest this year.
According to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude oil inventories fell by only 1.4 million barrels, less than half of analysts' expectations of 3.3 million barrels. The data also put pressure on oil prices. Gasoline inventories unexpectedly increased by 2.9 million barrels. Reuters survey showed that analysts had expected a decline of 1.7 million barrels.
Financial blog Zerohedge commented that the US EIA data for the week said that WTI oil prices fell sharply this morning (down to below $68), Bloomberg senior energy analyst Vince Piazzanotes also said that this summer, the optimism about crude oil has been from the previous The high point fell. At present, concerns about increased US crude oil production, a slowdown in global economic growth, and rising global oil production have weakened market confidence. But the US’s new round of sanctions against Iran partially offset this pessimism. The reduction in EIA crude oil inventories was unexpectedly lower than expected, but the inventories of gasoline and refined oil increased significantly, which put pressure on WTI oil prices.
Globe Valve,Globe Gate Valve,Globe Stop Valve,Ss Globe Valve
Haogong Valve Co Ltd , https://www.haogongvalve.com