15, Aug. Weak Chinese economic data led to worries about demand from the world’s biggest crude importer, but Saudi Aramco said it was ready to increase supply.
Brent crude futures slid $1.14, or 1.2%, to $97.01 a barrel by 0631 GMT on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $91.03 a barrel, down $1.06, or 1.2%.
China’s economy slowed sharply in July, as refinery output fell to its lowest level since March 2020.
Heron Lin, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, said, “Official data suggests that oil demand is falling because record high oil pump prices are discouraging logistics and consumer demand in the United States.”
The possibility of COVID-19 limits might depress oil demand for the rest of the year, he said.
Saudi Aramco is ready to produce 12 million bpd if asked by the government, CEO Amin Nasser said Sunday.
“We are confident in our ability to expand production to 12 million bpd if needed,” Nasser added. China’s loosening of COVID-19 regulations and an uptick in aviation could boost demand.
Last week, oil prices went up by more than 3% after a broken part of an oil pipeline stopped several offshore Gulf of Mexico rigs from working and investors lowered their expectations for interest rate hikes.
A Louisiana official said that after Friday’s repairs, producers reactivated some stalled output.
Last week, the U.S. oil rig count jumped by 3 to 601. The rig count, an early sign of future output, has grown slowly, and oil production isn’t expected to recover until next year.
