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Rabat – Oil prices are showing signs of easing as they have dipped to a five-month low marking a return to pre-Ukraine war levels.
On August 4, crude oil prices in the US fell below $90 a barrel for the first time in five months, according to converging news reports.
During the same week, crude oil prices in Europe dropped to less than $95 a barrel, reports indicate.
Despite such encouraging signs of recovery, experts are cautiously optimistic as multiple risks related to supply threaten to send hydrocarbon prices soaring anew.
The drop in oil prices is likely the result of the low demand triggered by sluggish growth in the global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a recent report.
As projections of economic growth are being slashed around the world, the International Energy Agency (IEA) equally downgraded projections for global oil demand growth in 2022 by 100,000 BPD (Barrel Per Day), according to data reported by the American media outlet Worldview.
Rising inflation around the world and its effect on consumer purchasing power is also underpinning the trend of low demand, argues the report, adding that the ongoing war in Ukraine could send oil prices soaring again beyond the $100 threshold should Europe go through an energy crisis.
Gas prices have especially soared in recent weeks in Europe as Russia cut back on gas exports. More worrying, many observers have pointed out, is that Russia has repeatedly stated that cutting off Europe’s gas supply is not off the table.
Soaring gas prices and the possibility of energy shortages in the EU are likely to push the European continent into a second economic recession only two years after the COVID-19 outbreak, experts have warned.
