oil prices fell, this Wednesday, August 31, before the prospect of a possible agreement on Iran’s nuclear program that return iranian crude to a market who is also concerned about the demand in United States and China.
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The price of a barrel Brent from the North Sea, a reference for Colombia and Europe and for delivery in October, thus fell 2.83%, to 96.49 dollars in London. Meanwhile, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), reference for the United States and for the same delivery, it yielded 2.28%, to 89.55 dollars in New York.
The operators “expect a very difficult period for global growth“, explained in an analysis note Edward Moya, from Oanda.
In China, the PMI index for services activity fell significantly in August and the manufacturing activity indicator fell below 50 points, which indicates a contraction.
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The indices “reveal that the Chinese economy continued to suffer in August and we have not seen anything so far that could herald a change of course in September“, observed, on his side, Craig Botham, of Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a note.
Traders also saw in the weekly report for reservations in the United States signs of weak demand, according to Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.
Although in the weekly comparison the demand for distilled products rose in the United States, it is still 12% below its level in the same period of 2021.
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That information weighed more than the data of a higher than expected drop in commercial Oil Reserves, according to what was published on Wednesday by the United States Energy Information Agency (EIA).
Image of the BP refinery in Indiana (United States).
EFE
In the week ending August 26, stocks of crude fell 3.3 million barrels (mb), a figure identical to that of the previous week. Analysts had expected a drawdown of 950,000 barrels.
Total commercial reserves reaches 418.3 mb, 6% below the average of the last five years in the same week.
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For Flynn, it is above all the prospect of an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program that weighs on oil prices.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, declared that he hopes for an agreement “in the coming days“.
AFP
