Oil prices slip as economic fears offset tightening crude supplies | Reuters

Oil prices slip as economic fears offset tightening crude supplies | Reuters

Oil prices fell on Monday as concerns about slowing global growth outweighed the prospect of tightening supply after talks among key crude producers to raise output in the coming months stalled.

Brent crude for September fell 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $75.10 a barrel by 12:08 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for August was at $74.07 a barrel, down 49 cents, or 0.7%.

Both benchmarks fell about 1% last week but remain close to highs not seen since October 2018.

The spread of coronavirus variants and unequal access to vaccines threaten the global economic recovery, finance chiefs of the G20 large economies said over the weekend. The remarks weighed on the oil demand outlook.

“Traders are now refocusing on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and global concerns over the new variants’ expansion,” Rystad Energy analyst Louise Dickson said.