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Oil prices dropped to trade near two-month lows on Monday, having earlier slid by around $1 a barrel, as supply fears receded while concerns over fuel demand from China and U.S. dollar strength weighed on prices. Brent crude futures for January had slipped 65 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $86.97 a barrel by 1000 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December were at $79.71 a barrel, down 37 cents or 0.5 per cent, ahead of the contract’s expiry later on Monday. The more active January contract was down 50 cents or 0.6 per cent to $79.61 a barrel. Both benchmarks closed Friday at their lowest since Sept. 27, extending losses for a second week, with Brent down 9 per cent and WTI 10 per cent lower. “Apart from the weakened demand outlook due to China’s COVID curbs, a rebound in the U.S. dollar today is also a bearish factor for oil prices,” said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng. “Risk sentiment becomes fragile as all the recent major countries’ economic data point to a rece...

Oil prices seesawed on Friday in thin market liquidity, closing a week marked by worries about Chinese demand and haggling over a Western price cap on Russian oil. Brent crude futures dropped 17 cents to trade at $85.17 a barrel by 11:25 a.m. EST (1625 GMT), having retraced some earlier gains. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 3 cents at $77.91 a barrel. There was no WTI settlement on Thursday due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and trading volumes remained low. “Because there’s light volume after the holiday, we’re giving up some of the gains here a bit,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures group. Both contracts were headed for their third consecutive weekly declines after hitting 10-month lows this week. Brent was set to end the week down 2.6 per cent, while WTI was on track to fall 2.5 per cent. Brent and WTI’s market structure implies current demand is softening, with backwardation, defined by front-month prices trading above contracts for later...

Oil futures were broadly stable on Friday, but were poised to end the week up, ahead of a meeting by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Sunday and an EU ban on Russian crude oil kicking in on Monday. Brent crude futures were up 14 cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $87.02 per barrel by 1008 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures inched up 5 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $81.27 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI had dipped earlier in the session, but were on track for their first weekly gains – the biggest in two months at around 4 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively – after three consecutive weeks of decline. Sending bullish signals, China is set to announce an easing of its COVID-19 quarantine protocols within days, sources told Reuters, which would be a major shift in policy in the world’s second biggest oil consumer, though analysts warn a significant economic reopening is likely months away. Also underpinning oil prices, the U.S. dol...

Global oil prices slid to their lowest since January on Tuesday, extending a downward trend as growing concerns about global demand offset any bullish effects from an EU-led price cap on Russian oil sales. Brent crude futures for February delivery were down $2.35, or 2.8 per cent, to $80.33 a barrel at 11:38 a.m. EDT [1638 GMT], the lowest since Jan. 10. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell $2.01, or 2.6 per cent, to $74.92. “In this market, the sentiment is more negative,” said Eli Tesfaye, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. “We could be looking at $60-a-barrel WTI the way that things are going. I think $80s are going to be the new high, and I would be very surprised to see any higher than that.” Service-sector activity in China recently hit a six-month low, and European economies have slowed due to the high cost of energy and rising interest rates. Crude futures on Monday recorded their biggest daily drop in two weeks after U.S. services industry data indicated a strong U...

TC Energy TRP-T shut its Keystone pipeline in the United States after more than 14,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into a creek in Kansas, making it one of the largest crude spills in the United States in nearly a decade. The cause of the leak, which occurred in Kansas about 20 miles (32 km) south of a key junction in Steele City, Nebraska, is unknown. It is the third spill of several thousand barrels of crude on the pipeline since it first opened in 2010. The 622,000 barrel-per-day Keystone line is a critical artery shipping heavy Canadian crude from Alberta to refiners in the U.S. Midwest and the Gulf Coast. It is unclear how long the closure will last. There have been no effects on drinking water wells or the public, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement, though surface water of Mill Creek was affected. Kellan Ashford, spokesperson for EPA Region 7, which includes Kansas, said the cause of the leak was still unclear on Thursday evening. TC had mobilized arou...

A remediation company deploys a boom on the surface of an oil spill after a Keystone pipeline ruptured at Mill Creek in Washington County, Kansas, on Dec. 8. Kyle Bauer/The Associated Press An oil spill that shut TC Energy’s TRP-T Keystone pipeline in the United States on Wednesday could squeeze crude inventories at the country’s primary storage hub and in two main refining regions, the Midwest and Gulf Coast, analysts and traders said on Friday. The Keystone line is a key artery bringing more than 600,000 barrels of Canadian crude per day (bpd) to various parts of the United States. It was shut late Wednesday after leaking more than 14,000 barrels of oil into a creek in Kansas, making it the largest crude spill in the United States in nearly a decade. Canadian crude prices have already slumped on the news, widening on Thursday to a discount of roughly $33 per barrel to benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) – which is currently trading at about $72 a barrel – from abo...

Oil prices settled more than a dollar a barrel higher on Friday, notching their biggest weekly gains since October, as the U.S. dollar dropped to a seven-month low and more indicators pointed toward growing demand from top oil importer China. Brent crude futures settled at $85.28 a barrel, up by $1.25, or 1.5%. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose for the seventh-straight session to settle at $79.86 a barrel, up by $1.47, or 1.9%. Brent gained 8.6% this week, while WTI rose by 8.4%, recouping most of the previous week’s losses. The U.S. dollar index slumped to the lowest in more than seven months, a day after data showed inflation fell in December for the first time in 2-1/2 years, feeding hopes the Federal Reserve would slow its rate hikes. A weaker greenback tends to boost demand for oil, making it cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. Recent Chinese crude purchases and a pick-up in road traffic in the country are also fuelling hopes of a demand recovery in the w...