Oil Prices Sink in Run-Up to OPEC Meet

Oil prices slumped on Friday, with Brent crude falling 1.57% in afternoon trading as the oil demand outlook out of China continues to weigh on market sentiment. Oil prices are set to finish out a loss for the week, a weak starting point for OPEC as they prepare for their Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting scheduled for August 1. China’s refinery utilization has sagged this month, down 3.5% from this same time last year, and its crude oil imports have also been done 325,000 year over year through June. This disappointing crude…