Oil futures prices fell today, Friday, after a sharp decline during the past two days, due to fears of weak US economic growth and the possibility of a decline in energy demand, after Iraq’s decision to postpone the resumption of oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, and the United States’ plans to reconfigure its strategic stock of crude.
Bloomberg news agency stated that the futures prices for West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery fell today, Friday, by 1.00%, equivalent to $0.71, to about $70.16 a barrel, amid a decline over the past two days, by about 4% over the previous two days.
Oil futures prices
And by 07:15 pm GMT, the price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell by 0.95%, equivalent to $0.71, to $74.27 a barrel for next July delivery.
The real market showed signs of abating with weak refining margins and weak purchases in some areas.
--The US and Chinese economies, the two largest economies in the world, showed more signs of slowing down during the past week, with the number of jobless claims rising in the US and the pace of the Chinese economy’s recovery slowing.
An informed Turkish official said that Turkey may not accept an Iraqi request to resume exporting Iraqi oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan starting tomorrow, after a long pause due to the dispute between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq regarding the sharing of oil revenues in northern Iraq.
The Iraqi Oil Minister said yesterday that he is optimistic about the possibility of resuming oil exports through the Turkish port early next week.
