2023-11-30T06:11:36+00:00
A-
A
A+
/ The oil price stabilized after a two-day advance, as the countdown began for a major meeting that will witness the OPEC+ alliance setting production policy in the new year.
Brent crude oil traded below $83 per barrel, after rising nearly 4% over the previous two sessions, with West Texas Intermediate crude falling below $78.
OPEC+ heavyweight Saudi Arabia is pressing fellow members to join it in restricting production to prevent a renewed oil surplus next year, but faces opposition from countries including Angola and Nigeria ahead of a virtual meeting later on Thursday.
Delegates in the OPEC+ alliance said that a deeper collective cut of one million barrels per day or more may be considered. The absence of group-wide cuts could lead to further weakness in oil prices – after Brent crude fell by about 13% over the past two months – amid abundant supplies from outside the group of producers, including record exports from the United States.
“There are growing expectations that they may make deeper supply cuts,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Group NV. He added: “These rising expectations leave a downside risk to the market if OPEC+ results are disappointing later today.”
JP Morgan and Eurasia Group were among the latest companies to indicate a decline in the balance between supply and demand, after the International Energy Agency said earlier this month that the market would return to surplus next year.