The price of Brent crude dropped by 0.53% on Monday evening to close at $71.51.
The crude futures were largely weaker on Monday after failing to sustain a move beyond the psychological $70-a-barrel level.
Chinese oil imports, a major reason behind this year’s rally, fell to a 5-month low in May as private refiners held back on purchases amid scrutiny of government-issued purchases quotas.
Vitol’s head of operations for Asia, Mike Muller, was quoted to have said that OPEC+ was gaining the upper hand as a trendsetter on global oil markets with a perception in the market that control was with the cartel.
A robust rebound from the pandemic in the U.S., China and Europe has driven prices more than 40% higher this year, although the Covid-19 comeback across Asia is a reminder that the recovery will be uneven.
WTI dropped by 0.59% to close at $69.18, while the Bonny light crude rose by 1.39% to close at $70.99. The OPEC basket rose by 0.46% to close at $70.21, while natural gas closed at $3.081, representing a 0.52% drop.
