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SINGAPORE: Oil prices tumbled Monday after reaching their highest level this year as China reported that January's auto sales had fallen for seven months, raising concerns about fuel demand for the country. second world consumer.
Futures on Brent International were at $ 66.20 per barrel at 0353 GMT, down 5 cents from their last close. Brent had previously reached $ 66.78 per barrel, its highest level since November 2018.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were $ 55.82 per barrel, up 23 cents from their last closing price. WTI prices also rose to their highest level since November, at $ 56.13 a barrel earlier Monday.
Traders said Brent prices fell after China announced weak car sales data.
Vehicle sales in China last month fell 15.8 percent from the same month in 2018, an industry association said Monday. This trend is in line with the 2018 trend, in which China recorded the first annual decline in vehicle sales recorded.
Sales of new energy vehicles in January, including electric vehicles, rose 140 percent, underlining expectations that car oil demand could peak in China in the coming years.
Despite these data, global oil markets remain relatively tense due to reduced supply organized by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some unaffiliated producers such as Russia. The group of producing countries decided at the end of 2006 last year to reduce the production of 1.2 million barrels per day in order to prevent a significant swelling of supply.
US sanctions against oil exporters and OPEC members, Iran and Venezuela, have also supported crude prices.
Traders said that financial markets, including crude futures, were also backed by the hope that the US and China would soon settle their trade disputes, which dampened global economic growth.
"Positive signs in the US-China trade negotiations have helped boost market sentiment," ANZ Bank said on Monday.
The reduction in supply was offset at least in part by an increase in US crude oil by more than 2 million bpd in 2018, to a record 11.9 million bpd.
And there are signs that US production will increase further.
US energy companies have increased by three times the number of oil rigs looking for new sources of supply, to reach 857, announced Friday energy services company Baker Hughes in a weekly report
This means that the number of US platforms is higher than a year ago, when fewer than 800 platforms were active.
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