LONDON:Oil value tumbled today as traders wait for the newest US supply report for hits about production levels, although weak Chinese and German trade data also weighed.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for January delivery slipped 86 cents to $62.96 while Brent crude for January was down 81 cents at $66.03.
Analysts said they expected domestic inventories to have fallen by 2.7 million barrels in the week to December 5.
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute in its own survey, however, predicted stockpiles had risen by 4.4 million barrels. It also said refinery operations likely increased 1.6 percentage points to 94.6% of capacity.
The US Department of Energy will release the official stockpiles report later today.
The department yesterday modestly reduced its 2015 US oil production forecast to 9.3 million barrels per day from the previous 9.4 million estimate.
Analysts said that German and Chinese trade data this week “have shown signs of dropping global demand and put pressure on oil prices”.
German exports slipped 0.5% month-on-month in October, while imports fell 3.1%. That came a day after China said exports grew just 4.7% year-on-year in November and imports dropped 6.7%.
Trade figures out of Germany and China, both manufacturing giants, are closely watched for their impact on crude prices, especially the more international Brent contract.
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