Oil prices fell on Monday as supplies from Saudi Arabia and Russia rose while economic growth stumbled in Asia amid an escalating trade dispute with the U.S.
Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 fell 1.24 dollars a barrel to a low of $77.99 before recovering to $78.40, down 83 cents, by 7.35 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was 50 cents lower at 73.65 dollars.
Oil prices rose strongly in June, with the U.S. crude contract hitting its highest in years and a half years at 74.46 dollars .
But a flurry of U.S. announcements over the weekend unsettled oil markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had agreed to pump more oil, “maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels”.
