|
Brent crude futures for September dipped 1 cent to $82.36 a
barrel by 0744 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for
September fell 6 cents to $78.22.
The benchmarks have lost about 5% in the past three weeks. Brent
is trading marginally lower this week while WTI is down more
than 2%.
Chinese data this week showed the country's apparent oil demand
fell 8.1% to 13.66 million barrels per day (bpd) in June,
prompting concerns over consumption, ANZ Research analysts said.
"The weakness is likely driven by gasoline and diesel, as rising
new energy and autonomous driving vehicles become more popular,"
ANZ said.
In the Middle East, hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza have been
gaining momentum. The leaders of Australia, New Zealand and
Canada called for an immediate ceasefire in a joint statement on
Friday.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has pressed
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help efforts at
reaching a ceasefire deal, striking a tougher tone than
President Joe Biden.
A ceasefire has been the subject of negotiations for months, but
U.S. officials believe the parties are closer than ever to an
agreement for a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release
by Hamas of women, sick, elderly and wounded hostages.
Oil price declines were capped, however, by threats to
production from Canadian wildfires, a large U.S. crude stocks
draw and continued hopes of a September cut to U.S. interest
rates after strong economic data, said PVM oil analyst Tamas
Varga.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in London, Laila Kearney in New
York and Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore; Editing by David
Goodman)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
