New York’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures ended lower on Friday (April 22), pressured by negative factors such as weaker global economic growth prospects, lower interest rates. more and lockdowns in China to combat COVID-19 All of which are factors that will affect oil demand.
The WTI crude oil contract will be delivered in June. It fell $1.72, or 1.7 percent, at $102.07 a barrel.
The Brent crude oil contract (BRENT) will be delivered in June. It fell $1.68, or 1.6%, to close at $106.65 a barrel.
in this week WTI and Brent were down 4.1% and 4.5%, respectively.
Carsten Fritz, Energy Analyst at Commerce Bank. Research said on Friday that “The oil market has been pressured in part by demand concerns.”
“Bond Yields Soaring, Dollar Strengthening And the stock market crash also puts pressure on the oil market,” he added.
earlier this week The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3.6 percent, raising market concerns about the outlook for global fuel demand.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has signaled that the Fed may raise interest rates by 0.50% at its May meeting. This will be the first time the Fed has raised interest rates by 0.50% since 2000.
Investors are also concerned about oil demand in China, the world’s largest oil importer. After Shanghai announced lockdown measures to curb the spread of COVID-19