Brent crude fell towards $108 a barrel on Monday as oil production resumed in the Gulf of Mexico after a tropical storm, while concerns over a US government shutdown clouded the outlook for demand.
Tropical Storm Karen led producers to shut in nearly two-thirds of oil output in the Gulf of Mexico last week. It was downgraded to a tropical depression on Saturday, with production starting to return by the end of the weekend.
Brent crude fell $1.15 to a low of $108.31 a barrel and was trading around $108.35 by 0750 GMT. The benchmark ended higher last week, snapping a three-week losing run.
US crude dropped $1.15 to $102.69 a barrel. “Abundant supplies mean the market has little to worry about now that the storm has passed,” said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil and commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
