Oil trades in a narrow range as rising supply elsewhere offsets supply disruptions in Russia
Oil prices trade in a narrow range on Monday as rising production and concerns about the impact of US tariffs on demand offset supply disruptions caused by intensifying Russia-Ukraine airstrikes.
Brent crude fell 30 cents, or 0.44%, to $67.18 a barrel by 05:00 GMT, while WTI Crude fell 28 cents, or 0.44%, to $63.73 a barrel.
Trading is expected to be quiet today due to a US public holiday.
Russian drones struck energy facilities in Ukraine. Zelenskyy vowed on Sunday to retaliate with further strikes in Russia's interior following Russian drone strikes on energy facilities in northern and southern Ukraine. Both countries have intensified airstrikes targeting energy infrastructure and disrupting Russian oil exports in recent weeks.
Markets remained concerned about Russian oil flows, with weekly shipments from Russian ports falling to a four-week low of 2.72 million barrels, according to tanker tracking data.
However, traders said Russian oil exports to India are expected to increase in September, despite secondary tariffs imposed by the US on New Delhi for oil imports from Moscow.
The meeting of the presidents of India and Russia, who are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization regional security bloc in China, will be closely watched, especially in light of US pressure.
A survey released on Friday showed that oil prices are unlikely to gain much momentum from current levels this year. Rising production from leading producers increases the risk of oversupply, and threats of US tariffs are weighing on demand growth.
The week began with a series of manufacturing and export data releases from China, Japan, and South Korea, which are among the world's largest crude oil importers.
Private surveys showed that factory activity in China unexpectedly increased in August, but weakened in other Asian economies as companies began to feel the impact of US tariffs. This has negatively impacted the region's fragile recovery outlook.
Brent and WTI crude oil fell 6% or more in August, their first decline in four months, due to OPEC+ supply concerns.
Investors are watching the September 7 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members and their allies for further supply clues.
Meanwhile, US crude oil production reached a record high in June, rising by 133,000 bpd to 13.58 million bpd, according to data released Friday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
This week's US labor market report will provide a key indicator of the state of the economy and test investors' confidence that interest rate cuts are imminent. This has increased investors' appetite for riskier assets like commodities.
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