Oil prices slid on Monday as market participants absorbed the shock of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union though some analysts said Brexit would have a limited impact on global fuel demand.
Brent crude futures were down 76 cents at $47.65 a barrel by 1224 GMT. U.S. crude was down 85 cents at $46.79 a barrel.
Both crude benchmarks slumped about 5 percent on Friday amid plunging global financial markets after the British referendum results gave an unexpected 52 percent to 48 percent victory to the campaign to take Britain out of the EU.
Oil prices rose slightly early on Monday as analysts said Britain’s EU exit would have very little impact on physical oil trading – before slipping back later.
“If we assume a 2 percent drop in UK GDP in response to the exit vote, which is on the high end of our economists’ estimates, then UK oil demand would likely be reduced by 1 percent or 16,000 barrels per day, which is a 0.016 percent hit to global demand. This is extremely small on any measure,” said Goldman Sachs.
International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol also downplayed the impact of Brexit on global oil demand.
via Reuters
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