Both the weak demand for crude oil in Europe and Asia and an abundant supply in the Atlantic basin have exceeded worries of political tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East, sending Brent crude oil slipping below $108 a barrel on Monday, reports Reuters.
September Brent dropped by 87 cents at $107.52 a barrel by 1150 GMT, while prices declined by nearly $1 to a low of $107.41 earlier in the session. Meanwhile, after finishing last week at 1 percent lower, U.S. crude futures for September delivery fell 34 cents to $101.75 a barrel.
Experts believe that prices may need to fall even farther to attract buyers again. According to the Wall Street Journal, analysts also noted that lower prices could shift trade flows or cause a strategic reduction of supply.
They also made reference to the news that the U.S. Coast Guard permitted a crude cargo sent from Kurdistan to unload off the Texas coast.
"The development is sure to increase tensions between Baghdad and the KRG authorities," said analysts from research firm JBC Energy, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This move by the Coast Guard follows several months of disputes between the Kurdish region and Iraq, for the Kurds want to export their oil while Iraq is set on preventing them from doing so.
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