Oil prices opened at the beginning of the weekly trading on Monday with a decline for the third consecutive session, under pressure from weak demand from the United States and China.
-Advertisement-
The United States and China (the largest and second-largest oil consumers in the world) resorted to withdrawing from their strategic reserves of crude.
This is in order to meet local demand and within their attempts to reduce the cost of production for factories.
The two countries’ step comes to confront the rise in crude prices at a 7-year peak, as Brent oil prices recorded $86 earlier this month and last.
By 07:37 GMT, the price of Brent crude futures for January delivery fell 0.38 percent, or 29 cents, to $78.59 a barrel.
The futures prices of US West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery also fell 0.03 percent, or two years, to $75.91 a barrel.
-Advertisement-
The average oil consumption of the United States is 15.5 million barrels per day, while the average consumption of China is about 12 million barrels per day.
