WTI Falls to Six-Month Low With Demand Seen Declining
This article is for subscribers only.
West Texas Intermediate dropped to a six-month low while Brent fell to the lowest level this year amid speculation that refineries will slow operations, reducing crude demand.
Refineries probably operated at 92.9 percent of capacity on Aug. 1, down 0.6 percentage point from the prior week, according to a Bloomberg survey before a government report tomorrow. U.S. refiners usually schedule maintenance for September and October when gasoline demand declines. Speculator bets that WTI will climb have decreased 22 percent from a record reached in June, government data showed last week.