LONDON: Brent crude dropped 41 cents to $78.90 a barrel by 0315 GMT, after settling 10 cents lower. The front-month contract has shed nearly 33 percent since late-June when it reached a year-high of $115.71 a barrel.
U.S. crude was down 31 cents at $75.33 a barrel. The contract settled 18 cents lower on Monday.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak met on Monday in Moscow with Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez to discuss “the need to coordinate actions in defence” of prices in the oil market. Previous overtures between OPEC and Russia haven’t produced results.
“We cannot ignore the comments from Venezuela and Russia. But the most important factor is what steps OPEC and especially Saudi Arabia decides to take,” Hasegawa said.
Speculation about the OPEC meeting is expected to overshadow the usually closely-watched weekly oil inventory data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) is due at 2130 GMT, while the EIA will publish its report on Wednesday.
