Oil prices slip 1% to two-week low on recession worries

OIL prices slid about 1 per cent to a two-week low on Thursday on increased worries the US Federal Reserve may go too far with its interest rate hikes to control inflation, which could cause a recession and reduce future oil demand.

The US central bank uses higher interest rates to reduce inflation. But those higher rates increase consumer borrowing costs, which can slow the economy.

“The Fed is continuing to come ... for inflation and that is translating into fears over lower oil demand down the road because of a possible recession,” said John Kilduff, a partner at investment advisory Again Capital LLC in New York.

Brent futures fell US$1.07, or 1.3 per cent, to settle at US$81.59 a barrel, their lowest close since Feb 22.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 94 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to settle at US$75.72, their lowest close since Feb 27.

That put both benchmarks down for a third day in a row with WTI down about 6 per cent and Brent down about 5 per cent during that time.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased by the most in five months last week, but the underlying trend remained consistent with a tight labour market.

“Decelerating growth continues to weigh on crude prices,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at data and analytics firm Oanda.

Renewed hawkishness from the Fed is pushing investors to game out how a regime of “higher for longer” interest rates could weigh on US stocks with some market watchers saying the combination of higher bond yields and sticky inflation bodes poorly for equity returns.

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Kilduff noted that the US bond auction Thursday afternoon“ spooked the market” and “was the catalyst for the risk off sentiment” for the oil and stock market declines.

Crude futures and Wall Street stocks were both trading higher on Thursday morning on thoughts the US unemployment data could push the Fed to slow the pace of future interest rate hikes.

Wall Street stocks fell on Thursday, with all three major stock indexes down as investors worried that a jobs report on Friday could spur aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Analysts expect the US economy to have added 205,000 jobs last month – a sharp deceleration from January – and see the unemployment rate holding firm at 3.4 per cent.

Also supporting oil prices earlier on Thursday, TotalEnergies was unable to make deliveries from its French refineries on Thursday because of continued strike action a day after data showed an unexpected decline in US crude inventories last week.

“The halt in deliveries from TotalEnergies’ French refineries due to the nationwide strikes together with the slight weakness in the dollar might attract some shorts to cover part of their positions,” Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM told Reuters. REUTERS