Oil prices accelerated the decline at the beginning of the week

On Monday, the price of oil accelerated the decline on a number of macroeconomic factors. We are talking about concerns about a reduction in global demand and an increase in supply in the event of successful negotiations on a nuclear deal with Iran.

The current Brent oil quote is $94.68 per barrel (on Friday, the asset was trading at $100.20 per barrel). North American WTI oil is trading today near $88 per barrel (Friday's maximum is $94.60). 

From the very beginning of the day, the pressure on the oil market was exerted by statistics from China. The volume of production of large industrial enterprises in July increased by 3.8% year-on-year, although analysts had forecast an increase of 4.6%. Analysts note that the slowdown in the growth of the Chinese economy is caused by severe coronavirus restrictions, leading to a decrease in domestic demand.

Market participants are also monitoring the progress of negotiations between the United States and Iran on increasing the supply of «black gold» to the market. Last week, the European Union proposed to ease sanctions imposed against the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This proposal provides that persons who are not US citizens and maintain business relations with Iranians who are not included in the US sanctions list will not be subject to sanctions. 

The strengthening dollar also has a negative impact on oil prices. On Monday, the dollar index is growing by 0.55% to 106.070 points.