Oil prices eased during Monday morning’s Asian trade as concerns over demand in the top oil consuming countries, the US and China, offset positive factors such as a reduction in oil inventories OPEC+ production cuts.

West Texas Middle School Futures due June are trading 0.46% lower at $69.72 a barrel at the time of writing. The United States Brent Oil Fund BNO closed 1.73% lower on Friday, while the Vanguard Energy Index Fund ETF VDE increased by 0.23%.

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The fear of a possible default by the USA on its national debt is also great, as no result has yet been reached after the talks between the two last week President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and senior convention leaders.

An interesting development statement came from the Middle East. Iraq does not expect that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC and its allies, including Russia (OPEC+), are set to make further oil production cuts at their next meeting in June, the oil minister said Hayan Abdel Ghani said, Reuters reported.

However, global crude stocks could tighten in the second half of the year as OPEC+ implements further production cuts, reducing the availability of sour crude, the report said.

Expert opinion: CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said Reuters Oil prices are still The country is under pressure on the sluggish demand outlook as progress on China’s economic reopening appears to be bumpy. Investors will now focus on China’s plethora of economic data on industrial production, fixed asset investment and retail sales for signs of improving oil demand, she said.

“The impact of OPEC’s 1.6 million tonne-per-day production cut remains disappointing. Further funding cuts are off the table for the time being,” says a statement from ANZ Research.

Continue reading: Lael Brainard hopes for a solution to the debt crisis: “Congress has acted 78 times in a row to avert a default”