Oil headed for a third straight monthly drop Su Keenan reports. Oil registered its third straight monthly decline, its longest losing run in more than two years, on concern that tighter monetary policy and China’s economic slowdown will impact crude demand. West Texas Intermediate lost more than 9% in August, the largest monthly decline since November. Bearish sentiment is mounting amid slowing economic growth for major oil consumer China. Also, central bank officials reaffirmed their commitment to raising interest rates to cool rapid inflation. The US oil benchmark settled Wednesday below $90 a barrel for the first time in two weeks. “This morning’s price weakness is a summation of overall sentiment for the month of August, in which rising central bank interest rates are seen as the brake pedals to oil demand growth,” said Harry Altham, an energy analyst for StoneX Group. Low liquidity has exacerbated crude’s steep […]