Oil falls on demand concerns in China, concerns about supply limit losses

Stacks of a Total Grande Potts oil refinery seen just after sunset, southeast of Paris, France, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

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  • China’s economy slowed in March
  • The Libyan National Oil Corporation declares Zueitina a force majeure and warns of closures
  • Russian oil production fell 7.5% in April so far – IFAX, citing a source

TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) – Oil fell on Monday, dragged down by concerns about slowing demand in China, despite worries about tight global supplies and the worsening Ukraine crisis, which kept Brent crude above $111 a barrel.

China’s economy slowed in March as consumption, real estate and exports took a hit, sparking faster-than-expected first-quarter growth numbers and exacerbating expectations already weakened by COVID-19 restrictions and the Ukraine war. Read more

Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 26 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $111.44 at 1055 GMT, down from its highest level since March 30 at $113.80 hit earlier in the session. US West Texas Intermediate was down 11 cents, or 0.1%, at $106.84.

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“Some Asian investors took profits because they became concerned about slowing demand in China,” said Satoru Yoshida, commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities.

Monday’s data also showed that China refined 2% less oil in March than a year earlier, with productivity falling to the lowest level since October, as a surge in crude prices slashed profit margins and tightened shutdowns on demand. Read more

Oil climbed to its highest level since 2008 in March, with Brent crude briefly above $134, as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine heightened supply concerns due to sanctions against Russia and buyers shunning Russian oil.

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Adding to the pressure on the supply side, Libya’s National Oil Corporation on Monday declared a case of force majeure at the Zueitina oil port and warned that a “painful wave of closure” had begun to hit its facilities. Libya suspended production from the El Feel oil field on Sunday. Read more

“With global supplies now tight, the slightest disruption is likely to have a significant impact on prices,” said Jeffrey Haley, an analyst at brokerage OANDA.

Russian production fell 7.5 percent in the first half of April from March, Interfax news agency reported on Friday, and European Union governments said last week that the bloc’s executive body was preparing proposals to ban Russian crude.

Those comments came before an escalation in the Ukraine war. The Ukrainian authorities said that rockets landed in Lviv in the early hours of Monday morning, and explosions rocked other cities, while Russian forces continued to bombard them after declaring their almost complete control of the port of Mariupol. Read more

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Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Alex Lawler. Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Emilia Sithole Mataris

Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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