© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. Picture taken November 22, 2019. REUTERS/Angus Mordant/File Photo
By Sudarshan Varadhan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices were on track for the fourth straight week of decline as they remained little changed in early Asian trade after slipping about 5% to a four month-low on Thursday on worries over global demand.
futures were up 10 cents, or 0.1%, at $77.52 a barrel at 0232 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was nearly flat at $72.95. Both indices have lost around a sixth of their value over the last four weeks.
“There was little in the way of fresh fundamental developments behind the move. Instead, a break below US$80/bbl appears to have brought a fair amount of technical selling,” ING said in a research note on Friday.
OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have both predicted supply tightness in the fourth quarter, but some key economic data from around the world this week showed demand was bleaker than forecast.
The oil prices’ decline this week was mainly triggered by a steep rise in inventories and…
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