Oil Prices Fell, Weakened By Tropical Storm And Weak Growth In China

New York reported on July 15th that oil prices fell by about 1% on Monday. There are signs that the impact of tropical storms on production and refining in the Gulf of Mexico will be temporary, and China's economic data will dim the outlook for oil demand.

Bland crude oil futures closed at $66.48 a barrel, down 0.24 U.S. dollars, the U.S. crude oil futures closed at $59.58 a barrel, down 0.63 U.S. dollars, or 1.1%.

Last week, two contracts recorded their biggest weekly gains in three weeks, due to a drop in US oil inventories and diplomatic tensions in the Middle East.

"As the impact of the storm subsided, the oil companies sent workers back to the offshore drilling platform and crude oil prices were softer," said Edward Moya, a senior analyst at OANDA in New York. "Since no major losses have been made, oil production will start to recover, and we may see that crude oil prices are taking back some of last week's gains."

A refinery along the Gulf coast of Mexico has been shut down after the threat of tropical storm Barry and is now resuming production. Meanwhile, other refineries operating on the "Barry" path continue to operate.

A report released Monday by the US security and environment Enforcement Bureau (BSEE) showed that offshore oil producers restarted 4% of the oil production closed last week due to "Barry".

China's data show that industrial output and retail sales are better than expected, but overall figures show that China's economic growth in the second quarter was the lowest in decades.

Official data showed that China's oil output reached a record 13 million 70 thousand barrels a day in June after two new large refineries were put into operation, up 7.7% from a year earlier.

Nevertheless, China's economy grew by only 6.2% in the second quarter of 2019, the lowest growth rate in 27 years. This highlights the impact of trade tensions with Washington and suggests that more stimulus measures may be needed to stimulate economic growth.

The easing of tensions between the West and the Middle East has also put pressure on oil futures.

In a televised speech Sunday, President Rouhani of Iran said that if Washington lifted sanctions and returned to the 2015 nuclear agreement that it withdrew last year, Iran is ready to hold talks with the United States.