Agencies – Oil prices fell more than two percent today, Thursday, after OPEC+ producers agreed to voluntary cuts in oil production in the first quarter of next year, which fell below market expectations.
Brent crude futures for January delivery fell 27 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $82.83 a barrel upon settlement. The February contract, which begins trading as the nearest month due on Friday, fell two dollars, or 2.4 percent, to $80.86 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures also fell $1.90, or 2.4 percent, to $75.96 per barrel, falling $6.2 this month.
Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+, which pump more than 40 percent of the world’s oil, agreed to voluntary production cuts approaching two million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2024.
But at least 1.3 million barrels per day of those cuts were an extension of the voluntary restrictions that Saudi Arabia and Russia had already implemented.
Earlier, delegates said that the new additional cuts under discussion amount to two million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kuwait, Kazakhstan and Algeria were among the producers who said that the cuts would be phased out after the first quarter if market conditions permitted.
The meeting was scheduled to be held last week, but was postponed due to disagreements over production quotas for African producers.
OPEC+ also invited Brazil, one of the ten largest oil producers, to become a member of the group. Brazil’s energy minister said he hopes to join in January.
Meanwhile, she said Energy Information Administration Crude oil production in the United States, the world’s largest producer, continued to grow, rising 1.7 percent in September to a monthly record level of 13.24 million barrels per day.
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2023-11-30 19:15:49
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