Oil holds near multi-month lows on demand worries | Reuters

Oil holds near multi-month lows on demand worries | Reuters

Oil prices hovered near multi-month lows on Monday as lingering worries about demand weakening on the back of a darkened economic outlook outweighed some positive economic data from China and the United States.

Erasing earlier gains, Brent crude futures were down 55 cents, or 0.6%, at $94.37 a barrel by 1331 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $88.25 a barrel, down 76 cents, or 0.9%.

Front-month Brent prices last week hit the lowest since February, tumbling 13.7% and posting their largest weekly drop since April 2020, while WTI lost 9.7%, as concerns about a recession hitting oil demand weighed on prices.

"Last week’s price action left no doubt that recession-driven demand concerns have the upper hand over supply fears. One could even go as far as saying the war premium has evaporated," PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said.

Both contracts recouped some losses on Friday after jobs growth in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, unexpectedly accelerated in July.