SINGAPORE: Brent crude remained steady below $79 a barrel on Wednesday on rising Saudi crude exports in September and divisions between OPEC members appeared to grow ahead of a meeting next week.
All eyes are on OPEC’s response to a drop in oil prices of nearly one-third in recent months, with some smaller members calling for production cuts at the November 27 meeting in Vienna.
Brent was 8 cents higher at $78.55 a barrel at 0604 GMT, after settling 84 cents lower in the previous session. US crude was down 40 cents at $74.21 a barrel. The contract closed $1.03 lower on Tuesday.
Diplomatic and market sources say Saudi Arabian officials told recent private briefings that the kingdom could live for some time with current, or even lower, levels.
The OPEC heavyweight raised crude oil exports in September by around 59,000 barrels per day (bpd), official data showed. Its oil product exports fell by 2,36,000 bpd in September.
US prices fell as data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed crude stockpiles rose 3.7 million barrels in the week ending November 14, including a 1.4-million-barrel build at the Cushing oil hub.
The more closely watched report from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due at 1530 GMT.
An unseasonably cold blast of weather in the United States could boost demand forheating oil, with temperatures in all 50 states dipping to freezing or below on Tuesday.
