Oil drops 4% on over-supply and equities sell-off
US shale oil output to top 8-million bpd by year-end, with Russian oil output at a record high in December
London — Oil prices fell 4% on Tuesday after reports of swelling inventories and forecasts of record US and Russian output combined with a sharp sell-off in stock markets as the outlook for global growth deteriorated. US crude oil dropped $2.04, or 4.1%, to a low of $47.84, its weakest since September 2017, before recovering to around $48.55 by 11.40am GMT. North Sea Brent crude lost $2.41, or 4%, to $57.20, a 14-month low. It last traded around $58.21, down $1.40. Both crude oil benchmarks have shed more than 30% since early October due to swelling global inventories. World stock markets tumbled on Tuesday as fears about a slowing global economy gripped investors, just as the US Federal Reserve looked set this week to deliver its fourth interest-rate hike of the year. Germany’s Ifo economic institute said its business climate index fell for the fourth month in a row to its lowest in over two years, adding to the worries about global growth. Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.8% after US stocks ...
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