Oil Falls On U.S. Output Gains, Chinese Demand Doubts

• Oil prices fell on Monday on expectations that U.S. production could rise and as weaker economic data out of China and the country's widening COVID-19 curbs weighed on demand.
• Global benchmark Brent crude futures dropped 94 cents, or 0.98%, to $94.83 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.37 to $86.53 a barrel, a 1.6% loss. Both benchmarks notched their first monthly gains since May.
• Oil output in the United States climbed to nearly 12 million barrels per day in August, the highest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, monthly government data showed.
• Meanwhile, factory activity in China, the world's largest crude importer, fell unexpectedly in October, an official survey showed on Monday, weighed down by softening global demand and strict COVID-19 restrictions that hit production.
• Strict COVID-19 curbs in China have hit economic and business activity, curtailing oil demand. China's crude oil imports for the first three quarters of the year fell 4.3% year on year for the first annual decline for the period since at least 2014.

(Source: Reuters)