At about 0630 GMT, the USA benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery was down 11 cents at $47.22, while North Sea Brent was down 20 cents at $49.47. Investors are looking toward a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for clues on the timing of USA interest-rate gains.
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Saudi minister tempers hopes of strong market intervention * Members of OPEC meeting in late September * Oil market to come into balance in Q4 – Jefferies (Updates prices) By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Friday after the Saudi energy minister tempered expectations of strong market intervention by producers during talks next month, and as analysts pointed to an ongoing supply overhang that was weighing on markets.
West Texas Intermediate for October delivery rose 73 cents to $48.06 shortly before 9:20 a.m.
“We will be willing to listen to our colleagues, what they have to offer in that area”, Khalid Al-Falih, who became Saudi energy minister in May, said in an interview on Thursday in Los Angeles.
At 1:00 PM EDT on August 26, Baker Hughes reported that the crude oil rig count remained unchanged in the week ended on August 19 after gaining for eight consecutive weeks.
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh confirmed that he will attend the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which is to be held in Algeria in September, Shana reported on Friday.
“I think yesterday’s Saudi comments were supportive”, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. The October contract was down 3.6 percent this week.
A previous OPEC attempt to freeze output collapsed in April largely because of Iran’s refusal to join talks, having just emerged from global sanctions and keen to maximise its oil revenues.
Opec as a whole has boosted output to record levels since adopting a Saudi-led decision in 2014 to protect the group’s global market share by forcing out higher-cost producers.
“There was some view that there was an acceptance within OPEC of $30, more or less as a floor; that seems to have moved to $40”, Bob Michele, chief investment officer at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in a Bloomberg television interview. The nation is OPEC’s biggest member.
He said the “market is moving in the right direction” already.
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“Iran will cooperate with Opec on improving prices and the state of the crude market, but we expect our right to restore our lost market share in the market to be considered”, Zanganeh said.
