An oil tanker in the sea outside the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. Picture: REUTERS/ALEXANDRA ULMEROil prices slipped on Tuesday for a second straight session as the negatives of a slowing global demand outlook outweighed the positives of Opec’s agreement with associated producers at the end of last week to deepen crude output cuts in early 2020.
“The euphoria was short lived, with an unexpected fall in exports from China highlighting the impact of the trade conflict,” said ANZ Bank in a note on Tuesday. That weakness came amid fresh fronts in the trade war between Washington and Beijing that has stymied global economic growth coming up fast: Washington’s next round of tariffs against about $156bn of Chinese goods are scheduled to take effect on December 15.
“With the swathe of new tariffs due to kick in on December 15, the market is watching negotiations closely,” said ANZ.