Oil declines slightly after Chinese import data.

Oil prices declined during trading on Tuesday, erasing some of the gains from the previous session, which had come on the heels of commitments made by Chinese authorities regarding the monetary and fiscal stimulus measures that the Chinese government intends to implement next year.

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In terms of trading, Brent crude futures fell by 0.32% to record $71.92 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropped by 0.35% to $68.19 per barrel.

What Affected Oil Prices Today?

Data released by the General Administration of Customs of China this morning showed that China’s crude oil imports increased year-on-year in November, marking the first rise in 7 months. China imported about 48.52 million metric tons of oil in November (equivalent to 11.81 million barrels per day), which represents a 14.3% increase compared to the same month last year.

However, despite the annual recovery in Chinese oil imports in November, they recorded a decline from the beginning of the year to date compared to the same period last year, with a drop of 1.9%, suggesting a potential decrease in China's oil imports throughout 2024, which contributed to the decline in oil prices today.

Nevertheless, oil losses remained limited as concerns over escalations in the Middle East and rising geopolitical tensions among major oil producers in the region continued to fuel fears of a potential shortage in global crude supplies, especially following OPEC+'s decision to postpone scheduled production increases until April of next year.

The focus is now primarily on U.S. oil inventory data set to be released tomorrow, alongside critically important inflation data in the United States, amid increasing speculation about a potential 25 basis points rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve in next week’s meeting following stronger-than-expected job data released last Friday.