Oil steadies as China COVID fears face tight supply concerns | Reuters
Oil prices were little changed on Monday as markets balanced an expected drop in demand due to mass testing for COVID-19 in China against ongoing concerns over tight supply.
Brent futures for September delivery gained 8 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $107.10 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 70 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $104.09.
With the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to keep raising interest rates, open interest in New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) futures fell on July 7 to its lowest since October 2015 as investors cut back on risky assets.
Last week, oil speculators cut their net long futures and options positions on the NYMEX and Intercontinental Exchanges to their lowest since April 2020.
"The oil market is being pulled in two directions with exceedingly tight physical fundamentals set against forward-looking demand concerns and signs of price-induced demand destruction," analysts at EBW Analytics said in a note.
The market was rattled earlier in the session by news that China had discovered its first case of a highly transmissible Omicron subvariant in Shanghai that could lead to another round of mass testing, which would hurt fuel demand. read more
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