After a cut in European growth forecasts heightened worries over the outlook for demand at a time of huge oversupply, oil prices fell once again on Friday, pushing benchmark North Sea Brent crude down towards $50 a barrel, Reuters reported on Friday, September 4th.
The European Central Bank said on Thursday that economic troubles in China and emerging markets could drag the 19-member euro zone into deflation in the coming months.
The ECB now sees the euro zone economy growing 1.4 per cent this year, below its previous 1.5 per cent projection.
News of an attempted attack on a security facility in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, dampened some of the losses.
Brent crude for October was down 20 cents a barrel at $50.48 by 0840 GMT, after touching an intra-day low of $49.68. U.S. crude was down 30 cents at $46.45 a barrel.
“There is still a supply-demand imbalance and on top of that is the overhang in the market,” said Abhishek Deshpande, oil analyst at Natixis in London.
“The pressure will remain on oil prices.”
Oil investors awaited U.S. August jobs data, due at 1230 GMT on Friday, for indications on the health of the U.S. economy and the likely path of the dollar.
The data will be used by U.S. policy makers as part of their assessment on whether to hike interest rates this year. The next meeting of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee is set for Sept. 16-17.
Investors also kept an eye on U.S. oil rig data due later on Friday for clues on supply. Any drop in rig numbers could bolster oil’s price outlook.
Barclays on Friday followed BNP Paribas and other big banks, cutting its 2015 Brent price forecast by $5 to $55 a barrel, and by $5 to $63 a barrel in 2016.
BNP Paribas cut its Brent price forecasts on Thursday to $56 per barrel from $62 for 2015 and to $62 from $76 a barrel for 2016. For U.S. crude, it lowered 2015 outlook to $51 per barrel from $55 and its 2016 forecast to $56 from $70.
