Oil price decline continues

Oil is headed for its biggest annual decline since 2020 as the war and OPEC+ production cuts fail to lift prices and investors worry that global crude supply could dwarf demand in the coming quarters. Brent crude is trading above $77 a barrel, heading for weekly, monthly and quarterly losses, while U.S. crude traded around $72 a barrel. The global benchmark has fallen by about 10% this year, while the U.S. gauge has fallen by about the same amount. A broader Bloomberg commodity gauge has fallen by a similar margin over the past 12 months. Oil prices ended lower on Thursday after official U.S. data showed that crude inventories nationwide narrowed last week, with inventories at the key Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub expanding for an 11th week, reaching their highest level since August. U.S. crude production is continuing at a record pace. Oil prices are closing out a turbulent year, including the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, and there is speculation that the Fed will stop raising interest rates as inflation eases. Still, concerns about rising production and slowing demand growth in countries outside the cartel, despite continued supply cuts from the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, have pushed crude futures lower. This month, investors have grappled with rising tensions in the Red Sea following ship attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Half of the world’s container ship fleet that regularly passes through the waterway is now avoiding the route, and crude tankers are being diverted and journeys extended