(Bloomberg) -- Oil held a weekly decline on concerns over plentiful supply and the outlook for demand in China, the world’s biggest crude importer.
Brent traded below $71 a barrel after falling 3.8% last week, while West Texas Intermediate was near $67. Weak Chinese consumption has impacted sales of Angolan crude for December, while forecasters including the International Energy Agency see the prospect for a sizeable supply glut next year.
Oil has swung between gains and losses since mid-October, with hostilities in the Middle East at times raising fears of an escalation and potential disruption to supplies. A stronger dollar has weighed on prices recently, making commodities priced in the currency more expensive.
“There’s not much of a bullish catalyst for oil prices to ride on,” said Jun Rong Yeap, a market strategist with IG Asia Pte. “Market participants continue to fret over the prospects for higher supplies from the US and OPEC+” and the outlook for China’s economy, he added.
Investors are monitoring developments on Russia’s war in Ukraine, with allies pushing Volodymyr Zelenskiy to consider new ways to engage Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the conflict. The US is also nearing a decision to lift some restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-made weapons to strike limited military targets in Russia, according to people familiar.
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