Oil prices slide ahead of US Central Bank meeting

Oil prices fell today, Monday, ahead of a meeting of the Federal Reserve (the US central bank), as investors try to find out the US central bank’s inclinations regarding raising interest rates, while concerns related to the growth of fuel demand in China and the increase in Russian crude supplies affected the market.

By 0058 GMT, Brent crude futures were down 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $74.50 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $69.93 a barrel.

According to “Reuters”, the two benchmarks recorded the second consecutive weekly decline last week, after disappointing Chinese economic data raised concerns about demand growth in the world’s largest importer of crude, which outweighed the price recovery due to Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut production by one million barrels. daily in July

Most players expect the US central bank to keep rates unchanged at the close of the monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. And raising interest rates boosts the US currency, making dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies and putting pressure on prices.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lowered its forecast for oil prices due to higher-than-expected supply from Russia and Iran, and raised its forecast for supply from the two countries and Venezuela in 2024 by 800,000 barrels per day.