Late on Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that OPEC and non-OPEC countries had nearly reached a deal to stabilize oil markets and prices, adding that he expected the deal to be announced before the end of the month.
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Brent crude futures were trading at $46.32 per barrel at 0107 GMT, down 27 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last settlement.
“The amount of oil coming out of Libya is fairly limited so it won’t have a material impact on crude prices today”, Singapore-based OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley told AFP. The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $42.09 a barrel on September 19.
CARACAS, Sept 20 A deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producer countries would push up oil prices by $10 to $15 per barrel, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said on Tuesday, as the South American country pushes for an agreement to stabilize markets.
Prices were lower in early trade but rebounded later in the day. OPEC producers are now pumping almost 33.2 million barrels per day.
Libya, for instance, has already said it won’t cut production.
An oil tanker left the Libyan port of Ras Lanouf for Italy on Tuesday, in the first shipment since late 2014 when fighting erupted over control of the “oil crescent”, an official said in Tripoli. Nigeria’s output expanded to 1.75 million barrels a day and will keep rising after government outreach and a cease-fire with militants allowed some production to restart, Minister of State for Petroleum Emmanuel Kachikwu said.
“It seems there are more barrels than ever coming to the market because of OPEC and there should be no fundamental reason for prices to go up”, said Scott Shelton, broker with ICAP in Durham, North Carolina.
Analysts remain sceptical of the world’s biggest producers’ ability to agree an output freeze deal at talks due to take place next week.
Singapore, Sep 21 (AFP) Oil prices rose in Asia today as traders awaited the release of U.S. energy stockpiles data and a USA central bank decision on interest rates.
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On a visit to Algiers over the weekend, Mohammed Barkindo, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said an extraordinary meeting could happen if the Algeria conference produced a consensus.
