Oil down more than 1% on Chinese fuel demand doubts, OPEC supply concerns

Oil prices fell more than 1% on Monday as fears that Chinese oil crude consumption is slowing and that OPEC may increase global supply following a meeting this week.

Brent crude settled at $63.69 a barrel, falling 73 cents, or 1.1%, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled at $60.64 a barrel, losing 86 cents, or 1.4%.

China’s factory activity growth slipped to a nine-month low in February, sounding alarms over Chinese crude buying and pressuring oil prices.

“There’s some talk that their strategic reserves are filled up, and so some people are betting against the Chinese continuing to drive oil prices,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Investors were also concerned that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, would soon increase oil output.

“The worry is that that’s going to end up adding as much as 1.5 million barrels to the market,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. “They have to construct some kind of story to bring those barrels back.”

via Reuters