Asian markets see further fall in oil prices

News code : ۲۶۹۰۹۵

ILNA: Asian markets see further fall in oil prices this week.

Oil prices in Asian markets have experienced a further drop as the demand is weak and a continued oversupply puts more pressure on the prices already at their lowest in five and a half years.

On Monday, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate(WTI) for February delivery fell ۸۱ cents to USD ۴۷.۵۵ a barrel in mid - morning trade while Brent crude for February plummeted ۹۰ cents to touch USD ۴۹.۲۱.

“The fundamental factors have not changed much. There is an oversupply and demand is weak, ” Daniel Ang, an investment analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore, said.

He added that prices are expected to fall further this week, with WTI seen reaching a low of USD ۴۵ and Brent USD ۴۸.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank, meanwhile, said that oil prices continued to drop and headed for a seventh straight weekly loss as “key producers show no sign of cutting output in the face of a supply glut. ”

Crude prices were well above USD ۱۰۰ a barrel, but have lost over ۵۰ percent of their value since the middle of ۲۰۱۴.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps out about ۴۰ percent of the world’s oil, has so far refrained from cutting its production to balance the market mainly due to opposition from Saudi Arabia.

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