WTI crude oil futures fell 5% to trade below $73 per barrel on Thursday, the lowest since July, amid increasing signs of low demand and eased concerns of scarce supply. Oil refinery throughput in China fell 2.8% from the previous month’s record in October, pointing to lower industrial fuel demand and in line with slowing the unexpected contractions in the country’s manufacturing PMIs. Stateside, the latest data from the EIA showed a 7.6% decline in fuel product supplied from the earlier week halfway through November, consistent with the body’s earlier report that stated the oil market will not be as tight as initially thought. In the meantime, the same report from the EIA pointed to a 17.5 million barrel increase in US crude oil stocks during the two prior weeks. Still, OPEC reassured markets that fundamentals remained strong and attributed the recent price drop to financial market speculators.
