Oil prices fell on Monday on concerns the US-China trade dispute will erode global economic growth, although looming US sanctions against Iran’s oil sector kept crude from falling further, traders said.
International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 reached $75.63 per barrel, down 19 cents from their last close, CNBC reported.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were down 30 cents at $68.42 a barrel.
Trading activity was limited due to a public holiday in Britain, traders said.
“Falling US rig counts and last week’s decline in US inventories are supporting oil prices amid a protracted US-China trade war that could dampen global growth and weigh on oil demand,” said Stephen Innes, the head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore.
US energy companies cut nine oil drilling rigs last week, dropping to 860, the biggest reduction since May 2016, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday.
“Despite growing concerns about potential oversupply, the markets will continue to get a fillip from US sanctions against Iran,” Innes added.
Washington has aimed to target Iran’s oil exports with sanctions from November.
OPEC-member Iran has exported around 2.5 million barrels per day of crude oil so far this year. Most analysts expect this figure to fall by at least 1 million bpd once sanctions kick in.
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