Brent crude dipped towards $66 a barrel on Monday as weak Chinese data stoked demand fears, while near-record supplies from OPEC producers reinforced worries about oversupply. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, saw its biggest drop in factory activity in a year to 48.9 in April, a private business survey showed on Monday. The sub-50 point level indicates a contraction compared with the previous month.
The data came on the heels of a top government think tank’s forecast that China’s economic growth could slow further to 6.8 percent in the second quarter. “The Chinese data is weaker but it seems the oil market has had a limited reaction. What the market really wants to see is supply being cut to match the demand level,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney’s CMC Markets.
Oil supplies from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which produces about 40 percent of oil supplies, climbed 0.2 percent to a more than two-year high of 31.04 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, boosted by production from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, a Reuters survey showed. The increase in OPEC supply has put output further above forecasts of demand for its oil in the first half of 2015.
Reuters
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