Crude oil ended an unstable week and fluctuated slightly while concerns about Chinese demand remained

This is because deep-seated concerns about China's demand outlook and mitigation of geopolitical risks offset economic data showing a slowdown in the inflation rate and strong retail sales, which indicate the steadiness of private consumption.

“It was an unstable week for the oil market: on the one hand, there were concerns about supply disruptions due to the Middle East war, and on the other hand, slowing Chinese growth forced a revision of demand forecasts,” said energy consultant Andrew Lipow, according to Reuters.

In the Middle East, it is reported that the two-day talks calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the release of hostages in Gaza have progressed, and it is expected that Iran's recent attack on Israel, which has raised the risk premium for crude oil, will be postponed due to these discussions.

“If the situation in the Middle East does not escalate any further, crude oil prices will remain solid,” said an analyst at Commerzbank.

According to Chinese data released this week, China's economy lost momentum in July, and fuel demand was sluggish, so Chinese refineries drastically lowered their crude oil processing rate last month.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) revised their oil demand growth forecasts downward this week due to China's economic slowdown.

However, the consumer price index rose 2.9% from the same month last year, and the producer price index rose 0.1%, etc., and a series of data announced in the US for July underpinned the crude oil market.

Nymex crude oil last month (CL1:COM) for September this week closed at 76.65 dollars/barrel, which is -0.2% from the previous weekend, including the 1.9% drop on Friday, and the October monthly Brent crude oil (CO1:COM) closed at 79.68 dollars/barrel, which is almost flat compared to the previous weekend, including the 1.7% drop on Friday.

Also, this week, Nimex Natural Gas (NG1: COM) was -0.9% month-on-month to 2.123 dollars/mmBTU, down 3.3% on Friday.