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Oil prices fall again as U.S. and Asian demand looks to weaken

Published 2015-08-17, 08:23 p/m
© Reuters.  Oil prices fall again as U.S. and Asian demand looks to weaken
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* U.S. refineries seen cutting runs after summer
* Asia's slowing economies expected to hit demand

By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped again in
early Asian trading on Tuesday as traders expected lower
refinery consumption after the U.S. summer, while Asia's
weakening economies and high global production raised concerns
about oversupply.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 were trading at $41.84 per barrel
at 0014 GMT, 3 cents below their last settlement and not far off
more than six-year lows touched earlier this week. Brent futures
LCOc1 were at $48.61 a barrel, down 13 cents but still some
way from their 2015-low of $45.19.
Both crude oil benchmarks are now almost a third below their
last peak from May, and analysts say more falls could lie ahead.
"Fundamentals suggest downside risks still remain in key
markets - particularly iron ore and crude oil - in the months
ahead," ANZ bank said on Tuesday.
"On the demand side, U.S. refiners normally start to cut
operations soon - with reduced refinery rates in September
occurring in 9 of the past 10 years and weaker gasoline demand.
The current situation suggests that we may witness increases in
U.S. crude stockpiles in coming months," the bank added.
In Asia, the two biggest economies are slowing down fast,
with China recording its sharpest slowdown in decades and
Japan's economy contracting.
Underscoring the bearish sentiment, money managers and hedge
funds cut their net long holdings of Brent crude futures for a
fourth straight week and have raised their bearish bets on
gasoil as prices have fallen, exchange data showed on Monday.
Speculators reduced their net long Brent crude positions by
21,295 contracts to 125,889 lots in the week to Aug. 11, figures
from the Intercontinental Exchange showed.

(Editing by Richard Pullin)

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