WASHINGTON: Oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on Friday, dragged down by uncertainty over whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will reach an output deal.
Futures extended early losses after Saudi Arabia said it will not attend talks on Monday with non-OPEC producers to discuss supply cuts.
Pump jacks in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation near Lost Hills, Calif. Pump jacks in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation near Lost Hills, Calif.
Oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on Friday, dragged down by uncertainty over whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will reach an output deal. Futures extended early losses after Saudi Arabia said it will not attend talks on Monday with non-OPEC producers to discuss supply cuts.
Brent crude oil futures were trading at $47.02, down $1.98, or 4 percent, by 1:35 p.m. ET (1835 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled down $1.90, or 4 percent, at $46.06 per barrel.
Overall activity was thin after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and ahead of the weekend. Top OPEC oil exporter Saudi Arabia has told the producer group it will not attend talks on Monday with non-OPEC producers to discuss limiting supply, OPEC sources said, as it wants to focus on having consensus within the organization first.
“I think Saudi’s announcement it would not to go to the meeting drove the initial sell-off,” said Tariq Zahir, managing member at Tyche Capital in New York. “There has to be a substantial cut and it has to be something that the street will believe.”
OPEC is due to meet on Nov. 30 to coordinate a cut, potentially with non-OPEC members like Russia, the world’s largest producer, but there is disagreement within the producer cartel as to which member states should cut and by how much. Despite extensive diplomacy since September, the OPEC side of the deal still faces setbacks from Iraq’s call for it to be exempt and from Iran, which wants to increase supply because its output has been hit by sanctions.
