An oil pump jack is shown in a field on June 27, 2024 in Stanton, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Crude oil futures fell more than 1% on Thursday as concerns about the health of China’s economy grow after the country’s central bank cut rates twice in a week.
The People’s Bank of China slashed interest rates in a unexpected move Monday, followed by a surprise cut to its medium term facility lending rate on Thursday. China’s government also announced more stimulus to boost weak consumption.
“Looking at the high-frequency indicators, the drop is likely driven by continued weakness in Chinese demand and some pick-up in Iranian exports,” Amarpreet Singh, energy analyst at Barclays, told clients in a Thursday note.
Here are today’s energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate September contract: $76.05 per barrel, down $1.54, or 1.98%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has gained 6.2%.
- Brent September contract: $80.11 per barrel, down $1.60, or 1.96%. Year to date, the global benchmark is ahead 4%.
- RBOB Gasoline August contract: $2.41 per gallon, down 4 cents, or 1.65%. Year to date, gasoline is up 14.6%.
- Natural Gas August contract: $2.11 per thousand cubic feet, little changed. Year to date, gas is down 15.8%.
Oil prices are down despite declining U.S. crude and gasoline inventories indicating an uptick in demand and second quarter economic growth coming in at a 2.8% rate for the second quarter. The possibility of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas is raising hopes that tensions in the Middle East will de-escalate.