(New York) Oil prices fell Tuesday, giving back what they had gained the day before, as a deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence dampened investor optimism about the future of energy demand.
The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent, for delivery in August, lost 1.16% to $85.01.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery the same month, lost 0.98% to 80.83 dollars.
“It’s a tired market about to change direction,” said Mark Waggoner of Excel Futures, who judges oil “oversold.”
“I don’t think the demand” for energy and fuels “is going to be huge,” added the analyst as the travel season opens in the United States.
“I think it will be rather stable and that we are moving towards a decline” in prices, said the analyst who estimates that oil reached its peak of the year last April when the Texan barrel exceeded 86 dollars.
Consumer confidence deteriorated in June in the United States, with American households showing a little more pessimistic for the future.
The index measuring this confidence stood at 100.4 points in June, according to the monthly Conference Board survey published Tuesday, compared to 101.3 points in May.
Another factor which caused prices to decline, the dollar appreciated a little on Tuesday against the euro and the main currencies, which made oil bills denominated in dollars more expensive.
Black gold, however, remained supported by geopolitical risks, said Claudio Galimberti, analyst at Rystad Energy.
“Russia and Middle East risk premia remain significant despite efforts to achieve a lasting ceasefire,” he continues.
The exchanges of fire in recent months between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah, an Islamist movement allied with Hamas, armed and financed by Iran, have led to the displacement of tens of thousands of residents of the border areas of southern Lebanon and from northern Israel.
The Yemeni Houthi rebels are also increasing their raids against the merchant navy. The Houthis have been carrying out attacks off the coast of Yemen for months against ships which, according to them, serve Israel, saying they are acting in support of the Gaza Strip being bombarded by the Israeli army.
Despite the geopolitical risk, “oil markets have so far been spared the fallout from the Gaza invasion,” recalls John Evans, analyst at PVM Energy, thus preventing a surge in prices.
