Brent crude for November delivery fell 3.42% to $92.36. WTI for October delivery fell 3.19% to $86.69 a barrel.
Oil prices continued to fall on Thursday, depressed by recession fears and anti-Covid restrictions in China, pending the meeting of OPEC+ exporting countries.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in November, which is the first day of use as a benchmark contract, lost 3.42% to 92.36 dollars.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil for October delivery fell 3.19% to $86.69 a barrel, moving further away from the $90 mark.
The two global crude benchmarks experienced their third consecutive monthly price drop in August, suffering from a bleak economic outlook.
Many major central banks “continue to tighten monetary policy aggressively and new Covid epidemics in the major Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dalian have placed millions of people under strict confinement”, summarizes John Plassard, analyst at Mirabaud.
“China is the main question mark for the outlook for crude demand and it appears that the reopening momentum remains elusive,” commented Edward Moya of Oanda.
Manufacturing activity in the country, a major importer of crude oil, collapsed in August, weighed down by anti-Covid restrictions and an unprecedented heat wave that led to electricity shortages, according to an independent index published on Thursday.
“Describing the market trend as violent, volatile or uncertain has become a cliché, but that does not make this statement less accurate”, underlined Tamas Varga, of PVM Energy, recalling that opposing forces have been clashing for weeks in the market. tanker.
Monday meeting
Investors are now waiting on Monday for the meeting of energy ministers of members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), so that the alliance can decide on its production policy.
In the United States, markets will be closed on Monday to observe the Labor Day holiday.
“The Saudi energy minister said the cartel could cut production if Iran concludes a nuclear deal with the West and restores its exports,” recalled John Plassard. Because a return to the Iranian agreement would result in the lifting of certain sanctions against Tehran.
The fall in crude oil prices also took place against a backdrop of a rising dollar and a sharp decline in the New York Stock Exchange. “If September turns out to be a bloodbath on Wall Street, crude prices could fall to around $80,” Moya warned.
On the natural gas market, the Dutch TTF futures contract, a European benchmark, traded at 250 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), rising again at the end of the session with the interruption of Russian deliveries via the Nord Stream gas pipeline. 1.
“If Nord Stream Russian flows resume at current levels after the three-day maintenance in September, Europe may be able to get through this winter and the next without a reduction in demand,” said Massimo Di Odoardo, analyst at Wood Mackenzie.