Oil falls as investors assess risk of US government shutdown

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices fell today, Sept. 30, after both benchmarks recorded their steepest fall Aug. 1 in the previous session. The decline came amid oversupply concerns and easing global demand, as the risk of a US government shutdown was assessed.

Brent crude was trading down 0.6% at $66.70 a barrel, at 08:11 am Makkah time, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.55% to $63.11 a barrel.

A US government shutdown could disrupt a wide range of services and delay the release of economic data, including the jobs report scheduled for Oct. 3, which is critical to decision-making by Federal Reserve policymakers.

The American Petroleum Institute's report on US oil inventories is expected later today, before the official data from the US Energy Information Administration is released on Oct. 1.