Oil steady as tight supplies compete with economic concerns

Oil prices were steady on Monday as bullish sentiment about tightening supplies from OPEC+ cuts and a resumption in US buying for reserves competed with concerns about fuel demand in the top global oil consumers, the United States (US) and China. Brent crude futures fell 2 cents to $73.91 a barrel by 08:00 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $69.34 a barrel, up 4 cents. Last week, both benchmarks fell for a fourth consecutive week, the longest streak of weekly declines since September 2022, over concerns the United States could enter a recession amid risk of a historic default at the beginning of June. “With the uneven re-opening in China and concerns that the US is facing a growth slowdown at a time when the X-date for the debt ceiling is rapidly approaching, topped off by a rally in the US dollar, market sentiment towards crude oil will remain tepid at best,” IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.