In New York, Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), the benchmark in the United States, dismissed Monday’s operations at 103.01 dollars a barrel, which meant a decline of 6.32 dollars or 5.78 per hundred.
Market sources commented that in the lowest part of the session, WTI fell 8.75 percent and reached a level below 100 dollars a barrel, but later moderated the collapse somewhat and finished above that level.
The sharp decline in the price was also attributed to a downward revision of China’s consumption of crude oil this month, due to the confinements in several cities in that country.
However, analysts agreed that the fundamental factor that weighed down the price of “black gold” was the continuity of the talks between Ukraine and Russia, which have the purpose of declaring a ceasefire.
John Kilduff, an analyst at Again Capital, commented that for the first time in a while there are fears of low demand due to the increase in coronavirus cases in the Asian giant.
Meanwhile, in the London market, the barrel of Brent crude, Europe’s benchmark, fell 5.12 percent to settle at $106.90 at the end of the day.
Analysts believed that the notable declines in the prices of WTI and Brent at the beginning of the week, largely express the volatility in the markets. The latter led to a barrel of crude oil exceeding 100 dollars for the first time since 2014 and reaching 130 the previous week.
ef/ode/rs
