LSE: Crude Oil Flat As Europe, China Growth Concerns Weigh
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - Crude oil prices are little changed Thursday morning, with some disappointing economic data from Europe and China raising prospects for a drop in demand.
After Wednesday's lackluster US retail sales figures, traders are now awaiting a report on jobless claims from the Labor Department.
An unexpected increase in US crude oil stockpiles last week, as revealed by a report from the US Energy Information Administration, is also contributing to oil's sluggish movements.
The EIA, in its monthly short-term energy outlook, lowered its global oil consumption forecast for 2014 and 2015.
Meanwhile, Libya is reportedly planning to resume oil exports from its largest port Es Sider next week. Earlier this week, the first shipment of oil from Libya left the Ras Lanuf port for the first time in almost a year.
Crude oil futures for September are down USD0.10 or 0.10% at USD97.49 a barrel.
Meanwhile, natural gas for September is down marginally at USD3.829 per million btu.
In economic news, the eurozone recovery unexpectedly stagnated in the second quarter with Germany and Italy shrinking from the prior quarter.
And raising doubts about the pace of Chinese growth, both China's latest industrial production and retail sales figures were less robust than the month before.
The US Labor Department will release its jobless claims report for the week ended August 9, at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect claims to have risen to 295,000 from 289,000 in the previous week. Around the same time, the Labor Department will also release its report on export and import prices for July.
