Brent oil trading at $75, tightens spread with WTI price

Brent oil prices dipped to the $75 mark in trading on Tuesday which amounts to a near 20 percent sell off in the last two weeks as the spread between Brent and WTI tightened.

In London, Brent crude oil futures for July delivery was at $75.80 midday Singapore time on the ICE Futures Exchange, while WTI crude was up 60 cents to $70.68 a barrel on the NYMEX.

A $1 trillion bailout package unveiled last week by the European Union and International Monetary Fund has failed to assuage investor concern, and the euro dropped to a four-year low Monday.

“Sentiment in the market has been so bearish that you can’t rule out a further fall,” said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “The markets are spooked by developments in Europe. In time we’ll see US oil demand, which has disappointed so far, start to lift while China’s demand has remained very strong.”

Oil traders will be looking at this week’s fundamental reports for guidance than has been the case for months because the long time trump suits of equities and currencies have so clearly lost their ability to push brent oil prices higher.