Oil prices steady as supply concerns persist, August losses expected By Investing.com

Investing.com– Asian oil prices were barely moved on Friday amid continued concerns about tight supplies from Libya and Iraq. However, prices still posted losses for August as traders feared a looming drop in demand.

Crude oil prices recovered from recent losses this week as production was halted in Libya and reports of planned production cuts in Iraq tightened the outlook for supplies.

Signs of resilience in the US economy also pushed prices higher, as did continued bets on rate cuts.

But that was offset by fears that global oil demand will cool as the summer travel season draws to a close. Weak economic data from China largely kept fears of a slowdown in the world’s largest oil importer at bay.

which ended in October rose 0.2% to $80.08 a barrel, while the price at 22:03 (02:03 GMT) was up 0.1% at $75.98 a barrel.

Oil prices still down in August

Both contracts were still down between 1.7% and 2.5% in August, after falling to seven-month lows earlier in August as growing fears of a global economic slowdown hurt the demand outlook.

While these concerns largely subsided over the course of the month, worries about weakening demand persisted, especially with few positive signals from largest importer China.

Still, improving sentiment toward the U.S., the world’s largest fuel consumer, helped limit oil’s losses. The prospect of rate cuts in September was the biggest driver of the trend, after a series of dove-like signals from the Federal Reserve.

Data – the Fed’s favorite gauge of inflation – is due out later on Friday and will provide more insight into the path of U.S. interest rates.

Positive data was released on Thursday showing that US economic growth in the second quarter was much stronger than initially expected.

Production cuts in Iraq and shutdown in Libya set the stage for oil

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Thursday after Reuters reported that Iraq planned to cut oil production in September as part of a plan with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Iraq will cut production to 3.85 to 3.9 million barrels per day, down from 4.25 million barrels per day in July.

Production disruptions also continued in Libya, with reports this week that more than half of the country’s oil production was shut down amid growing dissent over the leadership of the country’s central bank.