Oil prices fell about 2 percent at settlement on Friday, with Brent crude falling below $80 a barrel, as investors’ expectations for growing demand from China, the world’s largest oil importer, declined. Brent crude futures fell $1.36, or 1.7 percent, to settle at $79.68 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.51, or 1.9 percent, to $76.65 a barrel. Prices were little changed for the week.
The weekly bulletin of the Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Energy Foundation confirmed that data from China on Thursday showed that the economy lost momentum in July as new home prices fell at the fastest pace in nine years, industrial production slowed and the unemployment rate rose.
Meanwhile, OPEC on Monday cut its demand forecast for this year, citing weaker prospects in China, and the International Energy Agency also cited weak demand in China when it lowered its 2025 forecast on Tuesday. Oil prices rose early last week as traders anticipated an Iranian response to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) last month in Tehran.
LNG prices
Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rose to their highest in more than eight months as relatively warm temperatures boosted demand for energy for cooling purposes. The average price of LNG for delivery in October to Northeast Asia was $14.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), according to industry sources. In Europe, TTF gas prices hit an eight-month high of $12.70 per mmBtu. Rising demand for gas from Asia and Europe, coupled with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war, have pushed up prices. European gas storage levels stood at 88.47 percent, close to the target of 90 percent. In the United States, natural gas futures fell more than 3 percent on Friday to their lowest in a week, amid forecasts of cooler than expected weather and a surplus of gas in storage, despite a government report showing a surprise drop in inventories last week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday that utilities pulled 6 billion cubic feet of gas from storage during the week ended Aug. 9, bringing inventories down to 3.264 trillion cubic feet.