Oil prices slip to a 3 month low on rising concerns of a global glut

26-Jul-16

Brent crude futures slipped by over a dollar, trading at US$44.6, while US crude also fell by 2.4% to US$43.1 a barrel. Oil prices fell on Monday, with U.S. crude slipping to a 3-month low on rising concerns that a global glut of crude and refined products would pressure markets, as per Cnbc.com.

Market intelligence points to an inventory rise of 1.1 mln barrels at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery base for U.S. crude futures in the week to July 22. Investors have become less optimistic that markets will balance quickly amid a massive overhang in refined products, particularly gasoline, despite forecasts for record U.S. summer driving.nThe threat of resurgent U.S. oil production with the rise of drilling rigs and a strong dollar added to the gloomy sentiment in the market, traders and brokers said. "Supply continues to return from disruptions, refined products are severely oversupplied, crude demand is falling well short of product demand, and key product demand is decelerating," Morgan Stanley said in a note. The decline in U.S. output has been key to balancing a market that has been grappling with excess crude for nearly two years, but with prices recovering from 12-year lows, signs of drilling activity have re-emerged.