Oil prices slide to one-month low

Oil prices tumbled on Thursday to their lowest point since early August as Wall Street sold off following U.S. unemployment data that fed fears of a slow recovery for the economy and fuel demand a day after weak U.S. gasoline demand data.

Brent crude fell $1.14, or 2.6%, to $43.29 a barrel by 11:21 EDT (1521 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $1.02, or 2.5%, at $40.49 a barrel. U.S. stock prices sank as investors sold high-flying tech stocks and worried about economic recovery after Labor Department data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment reached a seasonally adjusted 881,000 for the latest week. Continuing claims remained high, with millions out of work.

The Dow tumbled 700 points and the Nasdaq pulled back by nearly 5%. A day earlier both oil benchmarks fell more than 2% after U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed domestic gasoline demand last week fell to 8.78 million barrels per day (bpd) from 9.16 million bpd a week earlier. Consumption of other oil products also fell.

WTI crude has come under pressure “after U.S. refiners earmarked a long list of maintenance closures over the coming months that will no doubt impact demand for crude oil”, ANZ Research said in a note on Thursday. Due to shutdowns ahead of Hurricane Laura, U.S. refinery utilization rates fell by 5.3 percentage points to 76.7% of total capacity, the EIA said. Some analysts believe processing will not rebound in the fall.

“These factors suggest a seasonal drop-off in refinery runs and higher oil inventory levels as we advance through September,” AxiCorp market strategist Stephen Innes said.

Oil prices slide to one-month low as U.S. data feeds fuel demand worry, Reuters, Sep 3