Oil prices fell on Tuesday with US futures falling more than 3%, erasing all gains for the year.

Brent oil prices are trading at their lowest level since December 2023, down as much as 4%, below $74 a barrel, after data on weak growth in China was released and as the market expects a rise in output from OPEC.

OPEC+ representatives said the organization still plans to raise oil production in October, sources told Reuters and Bloomberg.

Manufacturing activity in China, meanwhile, fell to a six-month low in August, according to data released over the weekend. It is noted that China is the largest importer of crude oil in the world.

U.S. manufacturing activity was lower than expected last month, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management on Tuesday.

In detail, oil prices as formed so far on Tuesday:

  • West Texas Intermediate – October contract: $70.97 a barrel, down $2.58 or 3.48%. Since the beginning of the year, US crude oil has fallen 1%.
  • Brent November contract: $74.42 a barrel, down $3.10 or 4%. Since the beginning of the year the global benchmark has fallen 3.47%.
  • Gasoline RBOB-October contract: $2 per gallon, down 8 cents or 4.21%. Since the beginning of the year, the is down 4.6%
  • Natural gas-October contract: $2.09 per thousand cubic feet, down 3 cents or 1.55%. Year to date, natural gas is down 16.7%.

It would be best for OPEC+ to wait until December given the slowdown in Chinese demand, Helima Croft, head of global commodities strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told clients on Monday.

The prospect of increased oil production by OPEC and a weak economy in China are overshadowing major production disruptions in Libya.

Libya’s eastern government in Benghazi has sought to halt production and exports amid a dispute with the UN-backed government in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, over who should lead the country’s central bank. Libya’s National Oil Corporation declared “force majeure” at the El-Feel oil field on Monday.