Oil prices little changed; demand worries offset Mideast tensions
NEW YORK — Oil futures settled little changed on Monday as concerns about interest rates and global demand caused the market to take a break after prices jumped about 6% last week on worries Middle East tensions could cause supply problems.
Brent futures fell 19 cents or 0.2% to settle at $82 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose eight cents or 0.1% to settle at $76.92.
That was the highest close for WTI since Jan. 30 for a third day in a row and put the contract up for a sixth straight day for the first time since September.
The New York Fed said its January Survey of Consumer Expectations showed the outlook for inflation a year and five years from now were unchanged, with both remaining above the Fed’s 2% target rate.
If inflation worries delay Fed interest rate cuts, that could reduce oil demand by slowing economic growth.
The International Energy Agency, which represents industrialized countries, predicted oil demand will peak by 2030, undercutting the rationale for investment. Others in the market disagreed.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries believes oil use will keep rising over the next two decades.
Crude benchmarks rallied about 6% last week due to persistent threats to shipping in the Red Sea, Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and US refinery maintenance.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have targeted shipping with drones and missiles since November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The US has led retaliatory strikes
In Gaza, Israel freed two hostages held by Iran-backed Hamas in Rafah in a ferocious rescue operation that killed 74 Palestinians in the southern Gaza city where about one million civilians have sought refuge from months of bombardments.
In the US, meanwhile, oil output in top shale-producing regions was on track to rise in March to a four-month high, according to a federal energy outlook. —