Crude oil closes: Concerns about slowing energy demand weigh on crude oil fell to its lowest level since January

News on September 8, crude oil futures closed lower and hit a new low
since January as the market worried about further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and the slowdown in energy demand caused by falling imports.

。

October futures for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $4.
94, or 5.
7 percent
, to settle at $81.
94 a barrel.
According to Dow Jones market data (the price of the front-month contract closed at its lowest level
since January 11.
Brent crude, the global benchmark for November delivery on the Intercontinental Exchange of Futures Europe, fell $4.
83, or 5.
2 percent, to settle at $88 a barrel, its lowest closing level
since Jan.
24.

October gasoline futures fell 4.
5 percent to $2.
3077 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while October heating oil rose 0.
3 percent to $
3.
586 a gallon.
Natural gas fell 3.
7% to $7.
842/MMBtu in
October.

Oil prices shrugged off earlier gains
after Putin threatened to cut off supplies to countries willing to participate in the G7 oil price cap program.
Putin said at a meeting in Vladivostok that Russia would abandon energy contracts
if the G7 complied with a plan to limit Russian oil prices.
The plan aims to limit Moscow's ability to
finance the invasion of Ukraine.

DTN senior market analyst Troy Vincent said the fall in oil prices following Putin's threat "largely illustrates the expected impact
of the dollar's rise to a 20-year high, a recession in Europe this winter and what increasingly looks like a potential global recession.
" ”

"This is a disastrous macroeconomic cocktail for total oil demand, although Europe is likely to burn more heating oil this winter than it has in past decades, because at current European prices, this is more economical
than natural gas," he said.

Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said, "Oil prices began to unravel
after reports that the Fed was highly likely to raise interest rates by 75 basis points at its next meeting.
" The Fed's move to curb inflation has raised fears of a recession that could hurt oil demand
.

"There seems to be a lot of liquidation positions due to concerns that the economy is going to turn bad," Flynn said
.
There is also some "private data suggesting that we should see an increase in
oil supply in this week's inventory report after the release of large-scale data from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
" ”

However, according to a survey conducted by S&P Global Commodity Insights, analysts on average expect the U.
S.
Energy Information Administration on Thursday to report a 1.
8 million barrel
reduction in U.
S.
crude oil supply for the week ended Sept.
2.
The survey also showed that weekly gasoline inventories are expected to fall by 1.
5 million barrels and distillate inventories by 1.
1 million barrels
.
Since Monday is a Labor Day holiday, the data was released
a day later than usual.

Separately, in a monthly report released on Wednesday, the EIA raised its forecast
for WTI, Brent crude and U.
S.
natural gas prices in 2023.

Flynn said it looks like a lot of traders are dumping oil
.
"It's more focused on insurance related to the slowdown than on the current tight supply situation
.
" Crude oil futures have retreated sharply from levels seen in early March, and the weakness in oil prices is linked to concerns about the demand outlook, when crude trading was at a about 14-year high following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February
.