West Texas Intermediate futures continued to fall on Tuesday as it set to extend its decline to a fourth session, while investors worries over the pending military strike against Syria eased. Brent dropped lower significantly after driven by the data’s from European factories outputs showing greater appetite for oil.
WTI October deliveries dropped 0.63% to $106.98 a barrel in New York’s Nymex at the time of writing, while Brent crude futures traded flat in London, edging up 0.03% to $114.37 a barrel.
North American light crude benchmark dropped $1.06 a barrel, while Brent gained $0.32 in the previous session, with assistance from the better-than-expected European factory data.
Crude Futures – Syria delayed
Crude futures was at its third month of weekly gains as the situation in Syria eased after the US President Barack Obama said he will wait for the approval from the Congress before proceeding with any military action against Syria. The operation is expected to be postponed until September 9. Meanwhile, France has said it would wait for the US decision.
Crude Futures – Positive factory data
With the positive manufacturing PMI data from both Europe and China, the global outlook was boosted at the same time. The positive manufacturing PMI data showed that a possible raise in crude demand in the future may occur with Markit’s euro data manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) boosted, with a growth of 51.4 points in August, up from 50.3 in the previous month. While the European benchmark Brent crude was affected by the news, still rising above the $114 threshold.
Data released earlier this week confirmed that factories in China surpassed analysts’ forecasts, as the official PMI rose to a 16-month high of 51.0 points. On Tuesday, official non-manufacturing PMI showed a decline from July’s 54.3 to %3.9 points in August.
Meanwhile, investors worries over the supply jitters shuddering the oil markets in oil-rich Libya, Africa’s largest oil reserves, according to US Energy Information Administration data.
