Shafaq News/ Oil prices slid onMonday amid a strong U.S. dollar, concerns over sanctions and ahead of keyeconomic data by the U.S. Federal Reserve and U.S. payrolls later in the week.
Brent crude futures slid 21 cents,or 0.3%, to $76.3 a barrel by 0445 GMT after settling on Friday at its highestsince Oct. 14.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crudewas down 19 cents, or 0.3%, at $73.77 a barrel after closing on Friday at itshighest since Oct. 11.
Oil posted five-session gainspreviously with hopes of rising demand following colder weather in the NorthernHemisphere and more fiscal stimulus by China to revitalise its falteringeconomy.
However, the strength of the dollaris on investor's radar, Priyanka Sachdeva, a senior market analyst at PhillipNova, wrote in a report on Monday.
The dollar stayed close to atwo-year peak on Monday, a stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy thegreenback-priced commodity and hence reins in pressure on oil.
Investors are also awaiting economicnews for more clues on the Federal Reserve's rate outlook and energyconsumption.
Minutes of the Fed's last meeting isdue Wednesday and the December payrolls report will come on Friday.
Also weighing on sentiment wassupply disruptions of Iranian and Russian oil as Western countries ramped uptheir sanctions.
The Biden administration plans toimpose more sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine, taking aim at its oilrevenues with action against tankers carrying Russian crude, two sources withknowledge of the matter said on Sunday.
Goldman Sachs expects Iran'sproduction and exports to fall by the second quarter as a result of expectedpolicy changes and tighter sanctions from the administration of incoming U.S.President Donald Trump.
Output at the OPEC producer coulddrop by 300,000 barrels per day to 3.25 million bpd by second quarter, theysaid.
The U.S. oil rig count, an indicatorof future output, fell by one to 482 last week, a weekly report from energyservices firm Baker Hughes showed on Friday.
Still, the global oil market isclouded by a supply surplus this year as a rise in non-OPEC supplies isprojected by analysts to largely offset global demand increase, also with thepossibility of more production in the U.S. under Trump.
(REUTERS)