Oil prices fell on Monday following a prolonged uptrend, though they managed to recover part of their losses which exceeded a dollar earlier in the session.
Both benchmark crudes, Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), recorded gains for the sixth consecutive week last week.
Analysts suggested that the decline in prices was driven by traders looking to lock in profits. Tamas Varga of “PVM” stated that the absence of sharp declines might be linked to the lack of significant infrastructure damage at Russia’s Novorossiysk maritime base after another drone attack by Ukraine.
This port handles two percent of global oil supplies, and risks to oil supplies may escalate with rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea ports.
Last Thursday, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, extended its voluntary production cuts by one million barrels per day until the end of September. Russia also announced on Thursday its decision to reduce its oil exports by 300,000 barrels daily in September.
Price Movements
By 14:00 Greenwich Mean Time, Brent crude futures dropped 97 cents to $85.28 a barrel, while WTI futures fell 98 cents to $81.84 per barrel.
