(New York) Oil prices ended Monday in dispersed order, but close to balance, slowed in their progress by a negative development for the Chinese promoter Evergrande as well as the lifting, by Russia, of part of its restrictions on exports of refined products.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in November ended almost in balance (0.02%), at 93.29 dollars.
As for a barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) of the same maturity, it lost 0.38%, to 89.68 dollars.
As during almost all recent sessions, the classes started off really in the green, before running out of steam.
Oanda’s Edward Moya said the dollar’s surge, which hit multi-month highs against a range of currencies on Monday, helped keep crude from getting any closer to $100 a barrel for Brent.
John Kilduff of Again Capital saw the market react to the setback suffered by Chinese real estate developer Evergrande.
The largest player in the sector, the Shenzhen giant was unable to issue new bonds, a major step in the restructuring of its colossal debt, due according to it to an investigation by the Chinese authorities into one of its subsidiaries.
The importance of the real estate market in China’s economic dynamics is such that an outright bankruptcy of Evergrande would weigh on the economy and on demand for oil, according to John Kilduff.
Prices also suffered from the decision of Russia, which lifted certain restrictions on its exports of refined products.
The fuel used for certain ships as well as diesel with a high sulfur content, of lower quality than that consumed most frequently, now escapes the suspension decreed Thursday to ease the prices of gasoline and diesel in Russia.
On the American market, demand is showing more and more obvious signs of decline every day. On Monday, the wholesale price of gasoline for immediate delivery fell to its lowest level in two months, while diesel lost more than 6% in ten days.
“Prices were very high at the pump for a long period of time, which ended up penalizing demand” for gasoline in the United States, according to John Kilduff.