SINGAPORE Oil prices dropped on Monday, hovering near multi-month lows, as recession fears hurt demand outlook and data pointed to a slow recovery in China's crude imports last month.
By 0039 GMT, crude futures fell by 74 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $94.18 a barrel. Front-month prices hit the lowest level since February last week, tumbling 13.7 per cent and posting their largest weekly drop since April 2020.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 67 cents, or 0.8 per cent, extending losses after a 9.7 per cent fall last week.
In July, China, the world's top crude importer, imported 8.79 million barrels per day of crude from a four-year low in June, but still 9.5 per cent less than a year ago, according to customs data.
Chinese refiners drew down stockpiles amid high crude prices and weak domestic margins, even as the country's overall exports gained momentum.
As China pushes recovery further out, ANZ revised down its oil demand forecasts for 2022 and 2023 by 300,000 barrels per day and 500,000 barrels per day, reflecting lower U.S. gasoline demand.
Oil demand for 2022 is estimated to rise by 1.8 million barrels per day, and it will be settled at 99.7 million barrels per day, just short of pre-pandemic highs, the bank said.
Russian crude and oil products exports continued to flow despite an impending embargo from the European Union that will take effect on December 5.
In the United States, energy firms have slashed the number of oil rigs by the most last week since September, the first drop in 10 weeks.
The Senate passed a $430 billion bill that was intended to fight climate change, among other issues, which gave the U.S. clean energy sector a boost.