The price of oil continues to fall.
Oil prices fell to $98 in international markets today as traders focused on the possibility of a sharp US interest rate hike, which would hit the economy and oil demand.
On the London market, the price of a barrel after noon was $1.23 lower than at yesterday’s close and reached $98.34. In the US market, a barrel for August delivery was trading $1.41 lower, down from $94.89.
In the past two weeks, oil prices have been pressured by fears of a recession, which overshadowed a drop in exports of crude oil and derivatives from Russia due to Western sanctions and supply disruptions from Libya.
Analysts expect the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates by a full percentage point at the end of the month to curb inflation, which jumped to 9.1 percent in June, the highest level in more than 40 years. years.
Higher interest rates typically dampen economic activity, which would mean lower demand for oil.
Traders already read indications of this trend from data that only 18.7 million barrels of derivatives are delivered in the US per day, at least from June 2021.
Crude oil inventories rose at the same time last week by 3.3 million barrels due to a new round of oil sales from strategic reserves. Gasoline stocks rose by 5.3 million barrels.
In a separate report, OPEC announced today that a barrel of its members’ oil basket was at $104.41 on Wednesday, which means it was $2.45 cheaper compared to the previous business day.
