U.S. light crude was down 80 cents at $47.72 a barrel.
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The Russian Energy Minister said that the situation in the crude market will improve in 2016, as Russia and OPEC share the same views on many questions.
Russia’s Novak also said that he and El-Badri did not discuss any production cuts.
Abdullah El-Badri, Secretary General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said that the group would not cut output in response to lower prices and that it is not anxious about the possible addition of Iranian oil following the nuclear accord between Iran and major countries. The US benchmark following ETFs like the United States Oil Fund LP (USO) and the ProShares Ultra DJ-UBS Crude Oil (UCO) also fell in the direction of crude oil prices.
“We met in December, and we met in June; and we decided to keep out production at 30 million barrels a day. But their economy is growing”. Overall, U.S. stocks are up 145 million barrels from a year ago.
Mr Badri added that even if Opec had cut output by as much as 2-million barrels a day, it would not have helped prices.
“Today hopefully will (tell us) if the relatively stable performance of the last two days is a correction, or the market actually is about to bottom out”. He went on to say that OPEC welcomes the lifting of sanctions against Iran.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) elected in November 2014 to maintain oil production levels, accelerating the price decline. “We will certainly be able to accept the new amount,” said El-Badri.
“Despite current uncertainties, signs of a more balanced market in 2016 may provide much desired stability to the oil market in the longer-term”, the statement said.
“The global oil market is being affected by various political factors”.
“Therefore we, Russian Federation and OPEC members, being responsible participants on the global oil market, should conduct our policy based on the full … understanding of its key factors and characteristics”.
Holdings of ICE Brent crude put options, which give the owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell oil at a predetermined price by a certain date, outnumbered those in calls – which offer the option to buy – by an average of 2:1 over the coming 12 months, highlighting a bearish bias in the market.
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US crude inventories have been bolstered by the fastest pace of production in more than three decades.
