Crude Oil Pulls Back to $91 a Barrel on Monday

Despite the strong U.S. dollar and slowing demand for crude oil, the price of the commodity pulled back on Monday during the New York trading session.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, pulled back from $88 a barrel to $91.52 at 5:31 pm Nigerian time. While the U.S. West Texas Intermediate oil pared losses to $84.75 a barrel, up from $81.65 it traded in the early hours of the day.

The price of the commodity traded lower in the early hours of the day on concerns that central banks will raise interest rates to curb inflationary pressures, a move expected to further hurt demand for crude oil and support the U.S. Dollar’s attractiveness to foreign investors.

“Ideas that continued rate increases will slow world crude demand and keep upward pressure on the U.S. Dollar is triggering long liquidation in both crude and natural gas this morning,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.

While the pullback may not last given a series of factors impacting the outlook of the commodity, supply remained tight and will continue to dictate prices for the remaining part of the year, especially with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+ still struggling to up production.

The cartel fell short in August, missing its target by 3.583 million barrels per day (mbpd) following a 2.892 mbpd missed in July.

“The market still has the start of European sanctions on Russian oil hanging over it. As supply is disrupted in early December, the market is unlikely to see any quick response from U.S. producers,” ANZ analysts said.

However, the gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions in China, the largest importer of the commodity, may help bolster prices.