Brent crude, the benchmark for Angolan exports, fell 0.27% to $69.12 per barrel. Oil prices retreated on Thursday, September 25, in a technical correction after hitting seven-week highs in the previous session. The decline was driven by expectations of weaker winter demand and the resumption of crude supplies from the Kurdistan region.
Brent crude, the reference for Angolan exports, dropped 0.27% to $69.12 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark, fell 0.34% to $64.77 per barrel.
Both contracts had risen 2.5% on Wednesday, reaching the highest levels since August 1. The increase was supported by a surprising decline in U.S. crude inventories and concerns that Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure could disrupt supply.
“We expect some profit-taking at current levels, and that oil prices will gradually retreat from here as we enter the winter low-demand season,” said Suvro Sarkar, head of the energy sector team at DBS Bank, to Reuters.
Pessimistic expectations regarding supply fundamentals, with forecasts of more crude from Iraq and Kurdistan, also weighed on prices.
“The return of Kurdish supplies reignites fears of oversupply, driving a pullback in prices that had hovered near a seven-week high,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.
The flow of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan was expected to resume in a few days, after eight oil companies reached an agreement on Wednesday with the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdish regional government to restart exports.
Source: Economia & Mercado
