HOUSTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Oil futures fell on Friday, declining more than 7% on the week after data showed China’s economic growth slowed and investors digested a mixed Middle East outlook.
Brent crude futures fell $1.39, or 1.87%, to $73.06 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at$69.22 a barrel, down $1.45 or 2.05%.
Brent settled more than 7% lower this week, while WTI lost around 8%, marking their biggest weekly declines since Sept. 2, when OPEC and the International Energy Agency cut their forecasts for global oil demand in 2024 and 2025.
In China, the world’s top oil importer, the economy grew at the slowest pace since early 2023 in the third quarter, though September consumption and industrial output beat forecasts.
“China is key to the demand side of the equation so that is very much weighing on prices here today,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.
China’s refinery output declined for the sixth straight month as thin refining margins and weak fuel consumption curbed processing.
“We cannot ignore the impact of electric vehicles in China,” said Neil Atkinson, Paris-based independent energy analyst and former head of the oil division at the IEA.
“There are various factors at play here, economic weakness in China but also the move towards the electrification of transport.”
Electric vehicle sales in China jumped 42% in August and reached a record high of over one million vehicles.
moving to a new and escalating phase as it battles Israeli troops.
This dashed hopes earlier on Friday that Sinwar’s death would speed up an end to escalating war in the Middle East.
In the U.S., crude production smashed another record last week, according to the Energy Information Administration on Thursday, as output rose by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the week to Oct. 11 to 13.5 million bpd, from its previous peak of 13.4 million bpd first hit two months ago.
Helping to give prices a floor, the EIA also said U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week.
And U.S. retail sales increased slightly more than expected in September, with investors still pricing in a 92% chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in November.
“Positive U.S. economic data has helped alleviate some growth concerns, but market participants continue to monitor potential demand recovery in China following recent stimulus measures,” said Hani Abuagla, senior market analyst at XTB MENA.
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Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston, Arunima Kumar in London, Florence Tan and Trixie Yap in Singapore; Additional reporting by Paul Carsten in London; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Louise Heavens, Christina Fincher, Richard Chang and Deepa Babington
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