SINGAPORE: Brent crude plunged below $81 a barrel on Wednesday, holding just above a four-year low as concerns over a mounting oil glut outweighed geopolitical and supply disruption risks in Ukraine and Libya.
With oil prices having fallen 30 percent from a mid-June peak, whispering among OPEC delegates ahead of its Nov. 27 meeting is starting to suggest it could informally cut output by around 500,000 barrels a day (bpd). But delegates within the Organization of the Petroleum.
But delegates within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also warned an agreement will not be easy, and analysts doubt members will take a decisive stance.
“The consensus view is OPEC won’t take any action, or if it does, not big enough or sufficiently definitive to have too much impact on prices,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney’s CMC Markets.
Brent crude for December delivery fell 81 cents to $80.85 a barrel as of 0735 GMT. It dropped 67 cents on Tuesday after first touching $80.46, its lowest since September 2010. US crude was down 65 cents at $77.29.
