Brent oil is on course for its longest run of quarterly losses in data going back more than three decades amid robust supplies and persistent concerns over demand.
(Bloomberg) — Brent oil is on course for its longest run of quarterly losses in data going back more than three decades amid robust supplies and persistent concerns over demand.
Oil has faced worries about a potential global economic slowdown as well as a lackluster recovery in China. Robust crude exports from Russia and Iran have kept supplies ample, outweighing a potential pickup in summer demand and production cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The global benchmark traded near $75 a barrel on Friday, but is set to post a fourth straight quarterly loss. West Texas Intermediate was heading for its first back-to-back quarterly declines since 2019.
The outlook for the second half is mixed. Some analysts have forecast that the market will tighten, in part due to the end of seasonal maintenance. Yet US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and some of his peers have said more interest-rate increases are likely, which would drag on energy consumption.
“We fear that market apathy and lack of risk deployment will compound further if the global physical market does not tighten,” Royal Bank of Canada analysts Michael Tran and Helima Croft wrote in a note. “This could end up being a lost year for the oil market as risk remains on the sidelines.”
On Friday, Russia’s Deputy Prime Alexander Novak ordered officials to consider introducing quotas for the export of oil products, according to a government statement. If the country executes the quota, it could curtail supply globally.
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