Oil falls amid surging supply and signs of a slowdown
Traders react to an increase in US output and concern factory activity in China
Singapore — Oil markets dropped by about 1% in 2019’s first trading on Wednesday, pulled down by surging US output and concerns about an economic slowdown in 2019 as factory activity in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, contracted. International Brent crude futures for March were at $53.27 a barrel at 4.21am GMT, down 53c, or 1%, from their final close of 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $45.01 a barrel, down 40c, or 0.9%. In physical oil markets, Dubai crude averaged $57.318 a barrel for December, the lowest since October 2017, two traders who participate in the market said on Wednesday. Similarly, Malaysia’s Petronas set the official selling price of a basket of December-loading Malaysian crude grades at $62.79 a barrel, the lowest since October 2017, the state oil firm said on Wednesday. Traders said futures prices fell on expectations of oversupply amid surging US production and concerns about a global economic slowdown. “We are most likely past the pea...
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