Oil Holds Steady Despite Growth Worries - ConsultFX

Oil Holds Steady Despite Growth Worries

Oil prices held mostly steady on Wednesday as fears of disruptions to global oil supplies helped offset growth worries.

Benchmark Brent crude was marginally lower at $84.98 a barrel after climbing 1.3 percent in the previous session. U.S. light crude futures were little changed at $74.97 a barrel.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its global growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019 on Tuesday, saying that ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and its trading partners have started to hit economic activity worldwide.

The IMF predicted Iran's economy would contract over the next two years due to reduced oil production as U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's crude oil exports come into force from November 4.

However, it forecast increased growth in Saudi Arabia and its oil-rich neighbors in the Gulf on the back of higher oil production.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Michael has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm as it closes in on the northwest Florida coast. U.S. producers in the Gulf have cut oil production by about 40 percent.


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