Investing.com — Oil prices fell sharply lower on Friday, succumbing to a fourth straight week of losses, as weak US jobs data fueled concerns that slowing economic growth will hit consumption as the year progresses.
At 2:30 PM ET (18:30 GMT), it fell 2.8% to settle at $73.52 and was down 3.2% to $77.01 per barrel.
Oil is set for its fourth weekly loss as growth concerns mount
Friday’s release showed the economy created 114,000 new jobs last month, the lowest since January 2021, up from a revised 179,000 in June, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, above the expected 4.1%.
The data fueled concerns about a global economic slowdown threatening oil demand, amid recent worries about a longer slowdown in growth in China.
The demand concerns come as fears of increased supply from non-OPEC countries come back into the spotlight.
Production is expected to increase by 500,000 barrels per day in the current year, a step down in pace from last year’s 1 million barrels per day but still responsible for 60% of non-OPEC production growth, Goldman Sachs estimated earlier this week. .
The number of American oil rigs, meanwhile, remained unchanged at 482, Baker Hughes reported on Friday.
Tensions in the Middle East are taking a back seat
Earlier this week, crude oil prices were influenced by concerns about all-out war in the Middle East, but were overshadowed by worries about slowing global growth.
Still, tensions in the Middle East are likely to continue to draw attention amid fears of a wider war breaking out in the oil-rich region of the Middle East after Iran vowed to take revenge on Israel for the alleged killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
Earlier this week, Israel said it had killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in an airstrike, angering the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed group.
The prospect of all-out war between Israel and surrounding states caused traders to place some risk premium on oil prices, due to the prospect of possible supply disruptions in the Middle East.
“For now, the market continues to try to balance these supply risks with the negative sentiment caused by demand concerns,” ING analysts said in a note. “Weaker Chinese demand has been on the radar for some time and weaker than expected US macro data will only exacerbate these demand concerns.”
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
