Oil prices fell on Monday as weak Chinese economic data fueled concerns about demand slowing there and record-high production in Russia exacerbated the global supply glut.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the global benchmark, traded down 50 cents at $49.06 a barrel at 1428 GMT (09:28 a.m. EDT), down 1.1 percent. U.S. futures were trading at $45.98 a barrel, down 60 cents or 1.3 percent on Friday’s close.
“High OPEC production, record-high production in Russia and weak China data are driving prices lower,” said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
China’s factory activity fell for an eighth straight month in October, a survey showed, pointing at continued sluggishness in the world’s second-largest economy.
The global oil supply glut, which has more than halved oil prices since a peak in June last year, was emphasized on Monday when Russia reported that its October oil production hit a post-Soviet record of 10.78 million barrels per day.
The data reflected Russia’s strategy of defending its market share as rivals from the Gulf start supplying Moscow’s traditional markets.
Last week, a Reuters survey showed sector analysts expected oil prices to remain weak next year as OPEC will likely stick to its stance of maintaining record-high production when it meets on Dec. 4.
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