Oil prices slide as market shrugs off Turkey coup bid
(Reuters) Oil prices fell nearly 2% on Monday as traders shrugged off the impact of the attempted coup in Turkey and the market turned its attention to bearish fundamentals, while disruptions to crude exports in Libya lent prices some support.
Brent crude futures fell $0.85 to $46.76 per barrel by 1311 GMT, while US crude futures were $0.82 lower at $45.13 per barrel.
"The market is looking past the coup," CMC Markets' chief market analyst in Sydney Ric Spooner said.
Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait, a chokepoint for oil that handles about 3% of global shipments, mainly from Black Sea ports and the Caspian region, reopened on Saturday after closing for several hours after Friday's failed coup.
News that oil guards protesting over pay shut Libya's Hariga oil terminal on Sunday dampened hopes the country could boost its output significantly any time soon.
"Libya remains a wild card in the global oil market balance," SEB chief commodities analyst Bjarne Schieldrop said.
"This morning, however, an immediate revival in Libyan crude exports looks less daunting and might help to support crude prices slightly."
Saudi Arabia's energy minister said on Sunday the kingdom always reacts to oil market supply and demand and would continue to monitor crude markets for any developments.
The race among oil suppliers to meet the rise in demand for imports from China's independent refineries is heating up, with Iran supplying a 2 MMbbl cargo via trader Trafigura.
A report by Morgan Stanley raised concerns about the longer-term outlook for oil consumption as demand forpetrochemicals rather than fuels such as diesel and gasoline is clouding the outlook for crude demand.
"Fundamental headwinds are growing, supply-demand rebalancing is likely still a mid-2017 event, but tail risks are admittedly large in both directions, as geopolitics add to uncertainty," the report said.
"A rapid rise of non-petroleum products is boosting total product demand, but this is unhelpful for crude oil. Based on the latest data, even our tepid 800 Mbpd growth estimate for global crude runs looks too high."
Reporting by Ahmad Gaddar; Additional reporting by Keith Wallis; Editing by Dale Hudson and Adrian Croft
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