TheCable

Oil prices fell on Friday as renewed economic concerns in the United States and China (two main oil consumers) raised fears about the global fuel demand growth.

Brent crude futures dropped 0.60 percent to $75.47 a barrel by 14:30 GMT+1, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 0.47 percent to $70.54.

US President Joe Biden and lawmakers have been in talks over the US debt ceiling — a limit that congress imposes on the amount that the federal government can owe.

Democrats have long pushed for an unconditional increase of the debt ceiling, while Republicans have demanded a number of policy reforms in addition to sharp spending cuts.

On Friday, Janet Yellen, US treasury secretary, said the US faces financial and economic catastrophe if congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.

Also, Michelle Bowman, US Federal Reserve governor, said the Fed would probably need to raise interest rates further if inflation stays high, adding that data, so far this month, has not convinced her that price pressures are receding.

Staff economists at the Fed had projected that the recent banking turmoil would trigger a “mild recession” later this year.

On the other hand, a decline in new loans to businesses and weaker economic data in China earlier in the week refocused doubts about the country’s recovery from COVID restrictions driving oil demand growth, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, with international oil prices falling, Nigeria has been battling to resume optimal crude oil production.

Last month, the country’s oil production fell below the one million mark.

The production figure decreased to 998,602 barrels per day (bpd), a 21.26 percent decline compared to March, when output was 1,268,202 bpd.

In January and February, oil production averaged 1,258,150 bpd and 1,306,304 bpd, respectively