POO for Ocelot14 Jul 2022 16:52
Oil prices extended losses and fell more than 5% on Thursday, with WTI crude futures trading at $91 a barrel, the lowest since February, pressured by a soaring dollar and as demand concerns took central stage. A hotter-than-expected inflation reading in the US raised the odds the Fed will have to raise rates fast, with investors increasingly betting on a 100bps hike later this month. EIA data released this week highlighted weakening US demand with product supplied falling to 18.7 million barrels per day, the lowest since June 2021. At the same time, investors worry that growing COVID-19 cases and the emergence of a highly infectious Omicron subvariant in China may force authorities to announce new mass lockdowns further depressing fuel demand. China’s daily crude imports in June sank to their lowest since July 2018 as refiners anticipated a hit from lockdown measures, according to Reuters. On the supply side, however, fundamentals still point to a tight market.