Amidst the United States recession forecast, crude oil prices have plunged by over 11 per cent month-on-month from July 8 to August 7, 2024.
Analysis conducted on crude grades showed that Brent Crude fell by 11.65 per cent to $76.80 per barrel on August 9, 2024, as against the $85.75 per barrel traded on July 8.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude grade also plunged from $82.33 per barrel traded on July 8 to $73.60 on August 7, 2024, an 11.86 per cent drop.
Murbab Crude grade dropped from $85.83 per barrel sold on July 8 to $75.41 on July 8, representing a 13.82 per cent drop, month-on-month.
Nigerian crude grades were not insulated from the crash as Brass River fell from $88.97 per barrel on July 8 to $80.58 on August 7, a loss of 10.4 per cent.
Qua Iboe crude grade also fell by 10.4 per cent from $88.97 per barrel traded on July 8 to $80.58 on August 7.
The plunge in crude oil prices is influenced by the demand concerns from China and fears of a recession in the US are adding to the downward pressure on oil prices.
There are huge concerns over the health of the US economy, including a weaker than expected jobs report.
“Other than the unemployment rate, almost every real economy indicator is growing, some of them going strongly,” said Jason Furman, a former White House economist.
The now professor at Harvard added, “Anyone who is confident that we’re going into recession is dramatically overstating how much we understand about the economy.”
“Once you start to worry about recession, you are usually in a recession. Once you see the unemployment rate rise, in past economic cycles, that’s always been the stage when you begin to see temporary lay-offs become permanent ones,” said Andrew Hollenhorst, an economist at Citi.
SOURCE: The Whistler
