Brent and WTI crude oil futures dipped on Monday as concerns of a looming trade dispute between the United States and China weighed on global markets.
Brent and WTI crude oil futures dipped on Monday as concerns of a looming trade dispute between the United States and China weighed on global markets.
In Asia, Shanghai crude oil futures debuted strongly, both in terms of volume and prices, with front-month contracts soaring as much as 6 percent as investors bought into the world’s newest financial oil trading instrument.
Looming over oil markets, however, was the possibility of a full-blown trade war between the United States and China battered Asian shares on Monday. The falls came after US President Donald Trump last week signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to USD 60 billion of imports from China.
This weighed on crude oil futures as well. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 65.49 a barrel at 0543 GMT, down 39 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their previous close.
Brent crude futures were at USD 70.18 per barrel, down 27 cents, or 0.4 percent.
Crude was also weighed by a rise in the number of US rigs drilling for oil to a three-year high of 804, implying further rises in production, which has already jumped by a quarter since mid-2016 to 10.
