Europe’s Oil Market Flashes Price Weakness on Refinery Halts
- Major crudes in North Sea, Mediterranean markets fall sharply
- Light, sweet supply set to rise as new streams come online
European crude prices have slumped to multimonth lows as the continent’s refineries start to take plants offline for regular maintenance, another cloud hanging over an oil market that’s largely wiped out its year-to-date gains.
Values are falling from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. A grade of Kazakh oil sank to the lowest in more than two years last week, while the UK’s Forties crude that helps to set the benchmark price for barrels around the globe traded at its weakest since May. US oil delivered to Europe is also the softest in several months.