Crude oil futures ended lower on Monday as traders eyed tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia. An intelligence report released by the Biden administration said Saudi Arabia’s crown prince likely approved an operation to kill or capture US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The US has sanctioned Saudi Arabia’s Intervention Force, called the Tiger Squad. as well as a former Saudi intelligence officer for the involvement in Khashoggi’s murder, but has not sanctioned the prince. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, scheduled to meet on Thursday, may consider increasing output levels.
Crude oil futures for April declined 86 cents or 1.4 percent to settle at $60.64 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude fell 73 cents or 1.1 percent to settle at $63.69 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.