SINGAPORE- Crude oil prices skidded on Monday, under pressure from expectations of higher supplies and weakening demand.
Brent crude futures fell 58 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $81.59 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 58 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $80.21 a barrel.
Both markets have dropped for the last three weeks, hit by a strengthening dollar and speculation that President Joe Biden’s administration might release oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cool prices.
“The White House has been debating how to tackle higher inflation, with some officials calling for the strategic reserve to be tapped, or halting US exports,” ANZ analysts said in a report.
US energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a third week in a row with crude prices hovering near a seven-year high, prompting some drillers to return to the wellpad.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose by six to 556 in the week to Nov. 12, its highest level since April 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said on Friday.
