Recession fears lingered, with oil prices tumbling more than 4 percent to a one-week low

On Thursday (September 15), crude oil fell 3.
58% to close at $89.
79 / barrel
.
Recession fears continue to cloud the outlook for oil demand
.
Meanwhile, U.
S.
railroads and unions reached a preliminary agreement to avert a massive strike that could affect domestic coal shipments, and oil prices continued to fall to a nearly one-week low
.

Earlier, the U.
S.
Department of Labor said that after 20 hours of intense negotiations, major U.
S.
railroad companies and unions reached a preliminary agreement to avoid a rail shutdown
.
The announcement came a day before the railway workers would actually strike
.
In the event of a strike, coal supplies would be drastically reduced, forcing power plants to rely more on crude oil or natural gas as alternative energy sources
.

"The oil market retreated on the strength of the dollar and a tentative agreement that would avert a strike by U.
S.
railroad workers," said analysts at energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates, noting weak cracking
spreads.

An IMF spokesman said the slowdown is expected to translate into recession in some countries in 2023, but it is too early
to tell whether there will be a widespread global recession.
Barclays economists believe that global growth is heading for an "increasingly synchronized downturn", citing the intensifying energy crisis in Europe, the coronavirus pandemic in some regions and tighter
financing conditions in many economies.

Barclays expects global economic growth to slow to 2.
2 percent in 2023 from 2.
8 percent this year, warning that advanced economies expect a contraction in the fourth quarter and zero growth
next year.
Barclays said slowing global growth would put the world "close to a global recession," but added that most of the bad news was over
.
In the Fed's tightening cycle, indicators of the strength of the US economy give mixed signals, and the US will only "barely" avoid a full-blown recession
next year.
Barclays expects Europe to fall into recession
in the first half of 2023.

U.
S.
Wall Street stock indexes fell, the dollar held near a 20-year high hit on September 6, and a flurry of economic data signaled resilience in the U.
S.
economy, which could keep the Fed aggressively raising interest rates
.
Central banks, including the Federal Reserve, tightened monetary policy to curb inflation, and oil was set to fall
for the first quarter in more than two years.
Keshav Lohiya, founder of consultancy Oilytics, said in an emailed note: "For now, the impact of pandemic restrictions on demand in Asia will continue to be the focus
of the oil market.
”

The U.
S.
Department of Energy said that the plan to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) does not include a price trigger mechanism and is likely to be implemented after fiscal 2023, falsifying
the logic of short-term support for stronger oil prices.

(U.
S.
oil hourly chart)