Crude oil has fallen sharply this morning, with front-month WTI breaking below the key $80 per barrel level. Without a quick rebound, the next significant target for the bears comes in around $77.50.
Crude prices have been declining steadily since 20th October. Yesterday’s attempted rally petered out later in the day and prices continued to slide overnight. This accelerated following the release of China’s trade surplus, which fell unexpectedly sharply last month. Traders will be paying close attention to China’s CPI and PPI which are released on Thursday. On Sunday Russia and Saudi Arabia confirmed that their respective supply cuts will remain in place, and this briefly supported prices. Traders still don’t see the current Middle Eastern hostilities spreading out and affecting supply. Instead, it’s the demand side which is the focus, with concerns of economic weakness in China and elsewhere capping prices.
Saudi Aramco posted a 23% drop in net profit in the third quarter. This is in line with other oil majors including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron.
Crude prices have been declining steadily since 20th October. Yesterday’s attempted rally petered out later in the day and prices continued to slide overnight. This accelerated following the release of China’s trade surplus, which fell unexpectedly sharply last month. Traders will be paying close attention to China’s CPI and PPI which are released on Thursday. On Sunday Russia and Saudi Arabia confirmed that their respective supply cuts will remain in place, and this briefly supported prices. Traders still don’t see the current Middle Eastern hostilities spreading out and affecting supply. Instead, it’s the demand side which is the focus, with concerns of economic weakness in China and elsewhere capping prices.
Saudi Aramco posted a 23% drop in net profit in the third quarter. This is in line with other oil majors including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron.