It fell 3.8% and settled below $69 a barrel, which is the lowest it has been since late June. For seven weeks in a row, crude prices have been going down. Even when OPEC and its friends cut production, the drops did not stop.
Prices kept going down because there were more signs that stocks would stay high. Russia’s seaborne crude exports hit their highest level since early July last week, and a US government office raised its estimate for the country’s oil output this year by 30,000 barrels a day from what it said last month.
Spreads between monthly contracts continue to show that there is too much supply. This week, the front end of the Brent futures curve closed at its weakest level since June.
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“Futures are trying to solidify a bottom from last week’s selloff,” BOK Financial Securities’ senior vice president of trading Dennis Kissler said. “The fact that back-month futures are rising against front-month futures sets the tone that current supplies seem to be enough.“
Oil has been going down for the longest weekly stretch since 2018. It is down more than a quarter since its high point in late September. The first quarter demand picture is not looking good because China’s consumption growth is expected to slow down and there are still risks of a recession in the US.
The International Energy Agency, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the US Energy Department will all release their most recent monthly views of the market this week. Investors will also be keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve’s last rate decision of the year.