Oil futures: Crude prices ease as macroeconomic concerns weigh
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Crude oil futures Friday were drifting lower as worries over the health of the global economy offset renewed concerns over lower Q3 supplies.
Front-month Sep24 ICE Brent futures were trading at $83.91/b (1555 GMT), compared to Thursday's settle of $85.11/b.
At the same time Sep2424 NYMEX WTI was trading at $79.87/b, versus Thursday's settle of $81.34/b, while Aug24 was trading $81.37/b heading into the expiry.
"Crude oil was under pressure amid a broader risk-off tone across markets," said ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes, noting that China's Third Plenum failed to provide any details on further stimulus measures.
China's ruling CCP concluded its twice-a-decade policy meeting on Thursday, releasing a communique that attempts to strike a balance between growth and security in the face of mounting uncertainties.
"President Xi Jinping vowed to make high quality development the key driver of the world's second largest economy. That left investors disappointed that there wasn't a greater focus on tackling structural issues in the economy, such as the beleaguered property sector," added Hynes.
Europe
Europe also sent jitters across oil markets with the ECB unable to commit to interest rates cuts that could stimulate the anemic economy.
Central bank chief Christine Lagarde said the "question of September and what we do in September is wide open," although markets have largely priced in a 25% rate cut probability.
"As widely expected, the ECB meeting did not carry new policy signals. We did not expect that either given the limited new information that the ECB has received since the June ECB meeting," said Danske Bank in its latest research note.
Last Friday, Sep24 Brent futures closed at $85.03/b, while Aug24 WTI settled at $82.21/b.
Prices had found some support midweek after the release of US inventory data showing a draw in crude stockpiles, while some OPEC+ members including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have reined in exports for the summer.
Elsewhere, Canadian wildfires are again threatening 400,000 bpd of oil production with dozens of new fires breaking out over the last 48 hours.
