Oil futures: Crude slides lower as ceasefire talks enter second week
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Crude oil futures opened the week lower after Hamas officially rejected the latest ceasefire proposal, although talks will continue into a second week.
Front month Oct24 ICE Brent futures were trading at $77.69/b (1815 GMT), compared to Friday's settle of $79.68/b.
At the same time Oct24 NYMEX WTI was trading at $73.68/b, versus Friday's settle of $76.65/b, while the Sep24 was trading $74.42/b heading into the contract expiry.
Hamas said on Sunday that it had rejected the deal because the terms were too close to Israel's position, although indirect talks are expected to continue this week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday, where he will meet senior figures including Prime Minister Netanyahu, with the White House keen to close a deal after last week's setback.
Mid-level Israeli negotiators also held talks in Cairo on Sunday after last week's talks in Qatar.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force carried out a number of long-range refuelling exercises over the weekend, which analysts said could be in preparation for a direct strike on Iran should Tehran launch an attack on Israel.
Economics
Oil investors will also be eying any news from this week's gathering of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Federal Chair Jerome Powell's policy speech on Friday will wrap up the event, where he is expected to at least hint at the likelihood of the first long-awaited rate cut when the Fed meets in mid-September.
Analysts are moving towards the possibility that OPEC will defer its planned output increases from October after the group trimmed its demand outlook last week, mainly down to lower-than-expected growth from China.
It now expects demand to grow at 2.1 million bpd in 2024, down from July's forecast of 2.235 million bpd.
The latest blow for Middle East producers came as QatarEnergy awarded its monthly Al Shaheen tender for October at among the lowest premiums seen so far this year, heard at +$0.65-$0.80/b against the underlying Dubai swap and down over $1/b from the previous tender.
