By Ahmad Ghaddar
LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell by about 1% on Monday, dropping for a third session, after official data showed that refining throughput and economic activity slowed in China in an indication that COVID-19 outbreaks are crimping the world's second-largest economy.
Brent crude was down 58 cents, or 0.8%, at $70.01 a barrel by 0943 GMT. U.S. oil fell by 64 cents, or 0.9%, to $67.80. Both contracts dropped by more than $1 earlier in the session.
Chinese factory output and retail sales growth slowed sharply in July, data showed, missing expectations as flooding and fresh outbreaks of COVID-19 disrupted business activity.
China's crude oil processing last month also fell to the lowest level on a daily basis since May 2020 as independent refiners cut production in the face of tighter quotas, elevated inventories and falling profits. China is the world's biggest oil importer.
"(Concerns) about the spread of the Delta variant in China and the effects this will have on oil demand are continuing to weigh on prices," Commerzbank said in a note.
Doubts about the speed of economic recovery were also heightened after U.S. consumer sentiment dropped sharply in early August to its lowest in a decade, a University of Michigan survey showed late last week.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) last week said that rising demand for crude oil reversed course in July and was expected to increase at a slower rate over the rest of 2021 because of surging COVID-19 infections from the Delta variant.
Money managers reduced their net-long U.S. crude futures and options holdings in the week to Aug. 10, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
Speculators also cut their futures and options positions in New York and London by 21,777 contracts to 283,601 over the period, the CFTC said.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in TokyoEditing by David Goodman)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU