Both international and U.S.-based crude oil benchmarks traded lower on Monday after clinching their second straight monthly loss in July as recession fears have weighed on commodity prices.
Price action
-
West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery
CL00,
-4.90% CLU22,
-4.90%
was down $3.17, or 3.2%, to $95.59 on the New York Mercantile Exchange -
October Brent crude
BRN00,
-3.64% BRNV22,
-3.64% ,
the global benchmark, was off $2.52, or 2.4%, to $101.42 on ICE Futures Europe. -
Back on Nymex, September gasoline
RBU22,
-4.02%
retreated by 2%, to $7.90 per gallon while September heating oil
HOU22,
-2.20%
shed 2.3% to $3.42 per gallon. -
September natural gas
NGU22,
-3.34%
shed 4% to $7.87 per million British thermal units.
Market drivers
Oil traders are focused on the upcoming meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies — a group colloquially known as OPEC+. The meeting is set for Wednesday.
See: Why Goldman’s commodity guru Jeff Currie is bullish on oil despite July’s pullback
“With the previous agreement having expired as the group has theoretically unwound all of the pandemic production cuts, attention will now shift to how OPEC+ plans to actually hit those targets and whether any further increases will be announced going forward,” wrote Craig Erlam, a senior market strategist at OANDA, in an emailed note on Monday.
Disappointing economic data out of China and other Asian economies also weighed on oil prices by undercutting hopes for a rebound. The Markit-Caixin purchasing managers index, a monthly indicator of business conditions in China’s manufacturing sector, came in weaker than expected late Sunday — coming in at 50.4, compared with the 51.5 consensus estimate according to FactSet data.
