Oil slipped again Tuesday after the price of Brent crude settled at its lowest level since January one day earlier as worries about more interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve rippled across markets despite concerns about the impact of the G7 price cap on Russian oil imposed Monday.
Price action
February Brent crude
BRN00,
-0.74%
BRNG23,
-0.74%,
the global benchmark, lost $1.25, or 1.5%, to settle at $81.37 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe after recording the lowest finish for a front-month contract since Jan. 10 on Monday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery
CL00,
-0.38%
CL.1,
-0.38%
CLF23,
-0.38%
declined by $1.22, or 1.6%, to $75.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Also on Nymex, January gasoline
RBF23,
-0.31%
fell 2 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.19 a gallon while January heating oil
HOF23,
-1.07%
traded at $2.9722 a gallon, down 2.7 cents, or 0.9%.
January natural gas shed 1.9% to $5.470 per million British thermal units.
Market drivers
More economic data released on Monday showed the U.S. economy is still “running hot creating scope for more interest rate hikes, and downgrading short- to medium-term growth prospects; a scenario that would entail a drop in oil demand,” said Ricardo Evangelista, a senior analyst at ActivTrades.
In other news, oil traders are waiting to see how a cap on prices of Russian oil imposed by the Group of Seven and the European Union will impact the market after expectations that it could cause prices to spike didn’t pan out.
“It is interesting that these losses are occurring at the same time as the G7 price cap on Russian oil kicks in. The measure, which some feared would destabilize the market, hasn’t yet produced such effect,” Evangelista said.
See also: What analysts think of the $60 price cap on Russia oil
