Oil prices ended last week on a high note, hitting their lowest levels since January on Friday after new UK technology data showed more jobs than the previous month.
The start of innovative economic data also boosted prices.
Consumer action on Friday Brent crude futures opened $2.71 lower, including 3.41 interest, to a new 76.81 at the close, down 4.3 percent on the week.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $2.79, or 3.66 percent, to $73.52 a barrel on Friday, down 4.7 percent on the week.
US job growth slowed more than expected in July and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent, pointing to a possible recession.
Economic data from China, the world’s biggest oil importer, and a survey showed weak manufacturing activity last month in the United States, Europe and Asia, raising the risk that a weak global economic recovery could weigh on oil consumption.
A weaker manufacturing activity in China also contributed to the slide in prices, adding to concerns about demand growth after June data showed imports and refinery activity fell from a year earlier.
Asia’s crude oil imports fell to a two-year low in July due to weak demand in China and India, data from the London Stock Exchange Group’s oil research division showed.
A meeting of OPEC+ ministers on Thursday left current oil output policy unchanged, including the alliance’s intention to gradually roll back some of its output cuts from October.
Oil investors are also watching developments in the Middle East.
However, analysts pointed to no significant disruption to oil supplies from the region as prices fell to multi-week lows amid fears of a full-scale war.
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