{"id":7224,"date":"2024-07-29T15:40:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.briskmarkets.com\/blog\/?p=7224"},"modified":"2024-07-29T15:40:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:40:55","slug":"oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Crude oil futures opened lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns over demand growth despite rising tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures on the Intercontinental Exchange were trading at $80.77 a barrel on September 24, compared to Friday\u2019s settlement of $81.13 a barrel. Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.briskmarkets.com\/blog\/technical-analysis\/\">West Texas Intermediate crude<\/a> on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $76.84 a barrel, compared to Friday\u2019s settlement of $77.16 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Markets saw some early support on Monday as tensions in the Middle East escalated. However, the main focus remained on concerns over demand growth, especially after disappointing GDP figures from China and the lack of a clear timetable for a US interest rate cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weekly Commitment of Traders data showed a continued downward correction in the crude oil and fuel derivatives market, with investors cutting long positions and increasing short positions as they anticipate further price declines. \u201cSpeculators have become increasingly negative on the oil market due to concerns about weak Chinese demand,\u201d commented Warren Patterson, head of commodity research at ING.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the week to July 23, money managers cut their long Brent positions by more than 29 million barrels to 263.57 million barrels, while WTI\u2019s net longs fell to a one-month low of 225 million barrels, down 23.46 million barrels. Last week, Brent lost 1.8% while WTI fell 3.7% on weak Chinese demand and rising hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the domestic market, oil majors Santos (1.8%), Ampol (1.6%), Woodside (1.3%) and Caron (0.1%) saw trading rise, while Beach Energy fell 0.7%. The broader energy sector rose 1.07% with the ASX 200 up 0.83%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Oil prices trade near six-week lows as global demand weighs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil prices traded near six-week lows, weighed down by upbeat Chinese economic data and renewed tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures were little changed at below $81 a barrel, after falling for a third straight week. Data showed that Chinese industrial sector profits grew at a faster pace year-on-year in June than the previous month, reflecting resilience in the manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, tensions have been rising in the Middle East. Despite signs of improvement in consumption from China and potential supply concerns from the Middle East, sentiment in the oil market remains subdued. China earlier this month reported its weakest economic growth in five quarters, while oil import volumes have been hampered by slower refinery returns from maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cConcerns about the Chinese economy are weighing heavily on energy commodity prices,\u201d said one technical analyst. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are scheduled to meet online on Thursday, but are unlikely to make recommendations on their initial plans to restore output in the fourth quarter. The market appears divided on whether the cartel will follow through on its planned output increase. Although crude prices have risen slightly this year on supply discipline from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opec.org\/opec_web\/en\/\">OPEC<\/a>+ and expectations that the Federal Reserve is close to cutting borrowing costs, anticipation is growing around the US central bank\u2019s interest rate decision expected on Wednesday. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed \u201cserious concerns\u201d about the outcome of Venezuela\u2019s elections, after Nicolas Maduro was re-elected as president of the OPEC member country for a sixth term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Oil prices hit by weak Chinese demand, geopolitical tensions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Early Monday, Brent crude futures fell 33 cents, or 0.41%, to $80.80 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 29 cents, or 0.38%, at $76.87.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brent and WTI have fallen 1.8% and 3.7%, respectively, over the past week, due to weak demand from China. \u201cDespite rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the lack of major supply disruptions is limiting any positive price reaction,\u201d one analyst said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cConcerns over oil demand, driven by weak Chinese economic data, are an additional factor weighing on oil prices at the moment,\u201d the analyst added. The latest data showed an 11% decline in China\u2019s total fuel oil imports in the first half of 2024, raising concerns about the demand outlook in the world\u2019s largest crude oil importer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, prices fell last week on news that Nigeria\u2019s Dangote Oil Refinery had resold shipments of US and Nigerian crude after technical problems at the plant. Meanwhile, markets are monitoring the oil situation in Venezuela after the electoral body declared President Nicolas Maduro a winner for a third term with 51% of the vote, despite opinion polls showing the opposition ahead. The United States had previously announced that it would review its sanctions policy towards Venezuela based on developments in the OPEC member\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these moves, concerns about the outlook for oil demand remain. Data showed that China, the world\u2019s largest importer of crude oil, recorded an 11% decline in total fuel oil imports in the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, the United States increased the number of oil and natural gas rigs by 11%, indicating an increase in future production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crude oil futures opened lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns over demand growth despite rising tensions in the Middle&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-7224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forex-articles","tag-oil"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand | Brisk Markets Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crude oil futures fell at the start of the week, weighed down by concerns about growing Chinese demand amid tensions in the Middle East.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand | Brisk Markets Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crude oil futures fell at the start of the week, weighed down by concerns about growing Chinese demand amid tensions in the Middle East.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brisk Markets Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BriskMarkets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-29T15:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/yoast-seo-blog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"B.A\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BriskMarkets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BriskMarkets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"B.A\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"B.A\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83983f684a46fe3d15edfebccb167e6e\"},\"headline\":\"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-29T15:40:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/\"},\"wordCount\":799,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"OIL\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/\",\"name\":\"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand | Brisk Markets Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-29T15:40:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Crude oil futures fell at the start of the week, weighed down by concerns about growing Chinese demand amid tensions in the Middle East.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Brisk Markets Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brisk Markets\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/logo.png\",\"width\":172,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"Brisk Markets\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BriskMarkets\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/BriskMarkets\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/brisk-markets\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/briskmarkets\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83983f684a46fe3d15edfebccb167e6e\",\"name\":\"B.A\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/476bf98263993f615c191d589f3e3089a078c5d1d6496ea0f3518bfb8c129ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/476bf98263993f615c191d589f3e3089a078c5d1d6496ea0f3518bfb8c129ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/476bf98263993f615c191d589f3e3089a078c5d1d6496ea0f3518bfb8c129ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"B.A\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/author\/briskblogadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand | Brisk Markets Blog","description":"Crude oil futures fell at the start of the week, weighed down by concerns about growing Chinese demand amid tensions in the Middle East.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand | Brisk Markets Blog","og_description":"Crude oil futures fell at the start of the week, weighed down by concerns about growing Chinese demand amid tensions in the Middle East.","og_url":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/","og_site_name":"Brisk Markets Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BriskMarkets\/","article_published_time":"2024-07-29T15:40:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/yoast-seo-blog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"B.A","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BriskMarkets","twitter_site":"@BriskMarkets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"B.A","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/"},"author":{"name":"B.A","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83983f684a46fe3d15edfebccb167e6e"},"headline":"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand","datePublished":"2024-07-29T15:40:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/"},"wordCount":799,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["OIL"],"articleSection":["Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/","url":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/","name":"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand | Brisk Markets Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-07-29T15:40:55+00:00","description":"Crude oil futures fell at the start of the week, weighed down by concerns about growing Chinese demand amid tensions in the Middle East.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/oil-prices-fall-amid-concerns-over-chinese-demand\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Oil prices fall amid concerns over Chinese demand"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/","name":"Brisk Markets Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Brisk Markets","url":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/logo.png","width":172,"height":82,"caption":"Brisk Markets"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BriskMarkets\/","https:\/\/x.com\/BriskMarkets","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/brisk-markets\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/briskmarkets\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/83983f684a46fe3d15edfebccb167e6e","name":"B.A","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/476bf98263993f615c191d589f3e3089a078c5d1d6496ea0f3518bfb8c129ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/476bf98263993f615c191d589f3e3089a078c5d1d6496ea0f3518bfb8c129ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/476bf98263993f615c191d589f3e3089a078c5d1d6496ea0f3518bfb8c129ec7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"B.A"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/author\/briskblogadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briskmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}