WTI oil declined in price to the level of 67.36 dollars per barrel.
The incidence of coronavirus is growing again in the world, which causes concern among oil traders. The potential tightening of quarantine measures and restrictions on the movement of citizens may reduce the demand for oil in the short term. This puts pressure on prices. The market is now focused on the two largest consumers of raw materials – the United States and China, and the demand situation in both countries remains uncertain due to the coronavirus.
Against the background of China's statistics, which showed a slowdown in the world's second economy, and reports that the US Federal Reserve plans to completely curtail asset purchases by mid-2022, oil quotes lost almost 3% on Monday. The monthly block of Chinese statistics showed a slowdown in all key sectors of the world's second economy and turned out to be worse than experts' forecasts.
The growth rate of industrial production decreased from 8.3% in June to 6.4% in July, falling 1.4 percentage points short of expectations. Hedge funds that relied on the commodity rally last year continue to get rid of oil futures. According to the results of last week, the net long position of short-term traders decreased by another 17.8 million barrels.
The forecast assumes a decrease in the price of WTI oil to the levels of 67.2, 67 and 66.7 dollars per barrel.