Oil prices in the international market further fell on Friday and were set to drop for a second week on concerns prolonged trade war between the United States and China.
Brent futures fell 31 cents, 0.5 per cent, to $63.02 a barrel by 0153 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 36 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $59.71. Both benchmarks settled over $2 lower on Thursday.
Brent is set to fall 4 per cent this week, adding to an 11 per cent drop in the prior week, while WTI is set to decline 3.8 per cent, after also falling 11 per cent in the previous week.
A prolonged trade dispute between the US and China is likely to reduce global trade volumes and disrupt trade routes, and eventually weigh on global economic growth. As the world’s two largest oil consumers, that will also impact crude consumption.
Oil prices have come “under pressure amid ongoing concerns about a global economic slowdown,” Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said in a note on Friday. He added the bank forecasts that if global economic growth falls below 3 per cent, oil consumption will decline by 1 per cent.
