Oil stays the same as worries about the economy and a lack of supplies fight.

Oil prices were flat on Monday. Concerns about fuel demand in the United States (US) and China, the two countries that use the most oil in the world, combined with bullish thoughts about tightening supplies from OPEC+ cuts and a return to US buying for reserves.

By 08:00 GMT, Brent oil futures had dropped 2 cents to $73.91 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude had gone up 4 cents to $69.34 per barrel.

Last week, both standards fell for the fourth week in a row. This was the longest streak of weekly drops since September 2022, and it was caused by worries that the United States could go into a recession because of the risk of a historic default at the start of June.

“With China’s shaky reopening and worries about a slowdown in US growth at a time when the X-date for the debt ceiling is quickly approaching, plus a rally in the US dollar, market sentiment toward crude oil will at best remain tepid,” said IG analyst Tony Sycamore.

Still, global oil supplies could get tighter in the second half of the year because OPEC+, which is made up of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, like Russia, are cutting production even more, which makes sour crude less available.

According to estimates by Reuters, the group said in April that some of its members would cut production by an additional 1.16 million barrels per day. This would bring the total amount of cuts to 3.66 million bpd.

But Hayan Abdel-Ghani, Iraq’s oil minister, says he doesn’t think OPEC+ will cut oil production any more at its next meeting on June 4.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told lawmakers on Thursday that the US could start buying oil again for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after a sale required by Congress is done in June.

At their May 19-21 meeting, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries could announce new steps to stop third countries from breaking sanctions, according to sources with direct knowledge of the talks.

People say that the tightening of sanctions will also try to hurt Russia’s ability to make energy in the future and stop trade that helps Russia’s defense.