Original title: underneath Metro 67, the bulls are worried about the three disadvantages.
Us crude oil futures were under pressure of $67 in European trading on Tuesday, weakening for the fourth day in a row, although some investors were buying bargains and major oil-producing countries were not expected to increase supply anytime soon. But concerns about weak global demand due to the accelerated deterioration of the COVID-19 epidemic have led to continued weakness in oil prices, as well as an increase in the number of US oil rigs and a stronger dollar.
As of press time, US crude oil futures prices were down 0.79% at 66.98 US dollars per barrel, while Brent crude futures prices were at 69.12 US dollars per barrel, down 0.56 per cent.
Earlier, four sources pointed out that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries and its allies believe that despite US pressure to increase supply to contain the rise in oil prices, the oil market does not need to release more oil than planned in the coming months.
In July, OPEC+ agreed to increase production by 400000 b / d per month from August until the current 5.8 million b / d production reduction is phased out. One of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was no need to accelerate the release of additional oil. Two other OPEC+ sources said that the latest data from OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA), a western energy watchdog, also showed that there was no need to increase oil supply.
Last week, the administration of US President Joe Biden urged OPEC to increase oil production in response to rising gasoline prices, which they see as a threat to the global economic recovery.
Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities, said US crude oil futures were supported around $65 and investors tended to buy bargains whenever oil prices approached the levels seen on Monday and last week. The market has not been affected by the rise in US shale oil production. But any rise in oil prices is likely to be limited as the surge in infection with Delta mutants has raised concerns about a slowdown in global fuel demand.
There were 213134 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States on Monday, totaling 37.07 million, and 732 new deaths of COVID-19, totaling 621796. In Germany, there were 3912 new cases confirmed by COVID-19, with a total of 3827051 confirmed cases, 28 new deaths and a total of 91899 deaths.
Recently, Delta mutant novel coronavirus set off a new epidemic in the United States. At the beginning of July, the daily average number of confirmed cases in the United States was only about 10, 000, while the daily average of confirmed cases in the last seven days has risen to about 135000. A severe rebound in the epidemic and a slowdown in vaccination have led a number of large US companies to postpone their employees' return to the office. Analysts pointed out that this will be a setback to the U. S. economic recovery.
Us shale oil production is expected to rise to 8.1 million barrels a day in September, the highest since May 2020, according to the monthly drilling productivity report released by the US Energy Information Administration on Monday. This is mainly due to an increase in production in the Permian basin, where shale oil production is the largest, and crude oil production in the region is expected to increase by 49000 barrels per day this month, offsetting the expected decline in production in Bakken and other major producing areas.
According to Baker Hughes,Last week, the number of active oil rigs in the United States increased by 10 to 397, the highest level since April 2020 and up from 172 a year ago.
Last week hedge funds sold oil for the sixth time in eight weeks as the resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic in Europe and North America dented hopes of a rapid recovery in long-haul passenger airlines.
Crude oil open contracts fell for the second day in a row on Monday, down about 6700, according to preliminary data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group crude oil futures market. On the other hand, trading volume increased by about 185600 contracts, ending two consecutive declines.