Crude oil has experienced a small damper after last week’s recovery run. Hurricane Ida has left its mark on large parts of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, affecting about 95% of oil production in the region. This equates to approximately 1.72 million barrels per day.
Another piece of news that is currently depressing oil prices is the sluggish Chinese economy. Economic growth in August was slower than expected.
Brent crude oil lost 0.15% to $73.07 per barrel tonight Asia time (23:10 GMT+7).
WTI crude fell 0.26% to $68.83 a barrel.
On Wednesday, OPEC+ will meet to discuss further action on crude oil production. The OPEC+ countries had already agreed at the last meeting to increase the output by 400,000 barrels per day until the end of December.
President Biden is urging OPEC countries to further increase production to counter rising fuel prices. However, it remains questionable whether OPEC and its allies will agree. The current price level is very comfortable for oil producers. Moreover, demand is still on shaky ground, especially since the delta variant is still spreading.