U.S. crude oil futures increased nearly 2% on Monday, recovering some of the losses from last week’s significant sell-off.
Last week, the U.S. benchmark closed over 8% lower. Traders are increasingly confident that tensions between Israel and Iran will not disrupt oil supplies in the Middle East.
On Monday, prices rose after China announced a cut in its benchmark lending rate. Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, expressed optimism about demand in China, the world’s second-largest economy.
Here are the closing energy prices from Monday:
West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
November contract: $70.56 per barrel, up $1.34 (1.94%). U.S. crude oil is up more than 1% year-to-date.
Brent
December contract: $74.29 per barrel, up $1.23 (1.68%). The global benchmark has decreased more than 3% year-to-date.
RBOB Gasoline
October contract: $2.0147 per gallon, up $0.63. Gasoline prices have fallen about 4% year-to-date.
Natural Gas
October contract: $2.312 per thousand cubic feet, up 2.39%. Natural gas prices have dropped approximately 8% year-to-date.
The oil market is shifting its focus back to supply and demand fundamentals. Consumption in China is weakening, while supplies are expected to increase.
Morgan Stanley predicts a surplus of 1.3 million barrels per day by 2025. This surplus is attributed to declining demand in China, OPEC‘s plan to return barrels to the market in December, and continued strong crude production in the U.S.
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