Oil prices down over US recession fears

By Firdevs Yuksel

ISTANBUL (AA) - Oil prices extended losses on Monday over demand worries triggered by recession fears in the US, the world's largest oil consumer.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $76.46 per barrel at 10.41 a.m. local time (0741 GMT), a fall of 0.46% from the closing price of $76.81 per barrel in the previous trading session.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $73.19 per barrel at the same time, a 0.45% decrease from the previous session that closed at $73.52 per barrel.

The US economy added 114,000 jobs in July, significantly below market estimates of 176,000, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Friday.

Data fueled worries that the central bank could have been too late to ease its monetary policy, pushing the US economy into a recession.

Demand worries in the world's largest oil consumer contributed to Chinese demand concerns lingering in the oil market for some time.

However, oil prices were supported by geopolitical risks in the Middle East, home to a vast majority of global oil reserves. Increased regional tension paved the way for concerns about a wider conflict and supply disruptions.