Oil prices fall after China's economic data disappoints

Brent crude for December dropped 15 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $ 42.78 a barrel at 0405 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for November was down 18 cents to $ 40.70 a barrel. Contract expires on Tuesday

SINGAPORE (Natural Energy News): China's third-quarter economic growth has not accelerated as much as oil prices fell on Monday after the report, underscoring that the increased cases of coronavirus worldwide is affecting the demand of world's largest oil importer.

Government data shows that the world's second-largest economy expanded 4.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier. Refiners in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, hindered their processing prices in September and industrial metal imports were shorter than government basis.

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Brent crude for December dropped 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $ 42.78 a barrel at 0405 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for November was down 18 cents to $ 40.70 a barrel. The contract expires on Tuesday.

Brent increased 0.2 percent last week, while WTI rose 0.7 percent after crude oil and oil product stocks in the U.S. drop the world's top oil buyers.

Chinese data showed that growth in goods and services is soft, while data on crude processing and production of industrial metals, which are a lifeline from fiscal stimulus, were "disappointing", said Owaisi-Chinese Banking Corp (OBC) Howie Lee, an economist.

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China's oil-buying frenzy earlier this year was expected to grow at a slower pace in the fourth quarter and had limited import quotas for independent refiners.

OCBC's Lee said investors are focusing on the OPEC+ Group's Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting to be held on Monday.

OPEC+ includes the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and productive partners such as Russia. JMMC may decide whether it will cut the current supply of 2 million bpd to 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) by scrapping plans starting in January.

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Li said that prices are unlikely to be delayed because its price has gone up in the market.

Last week's meeting of the OPEC+ Joint Technical Committee reported an apathetic fuel demand outlook because of fears that a long second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and a surge in Libyan production would leave the oil market surplus next year Can push on.

Energy companies in the US, the world's largest oil producer, added the most oil and natural gas rigs since January last week as crude oil prices returned to the well pad with nearly $ 40 a barrel over the past several months.

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