USA crude had slipped 23 cents to $30.54 a barrel, after settling up 11 cents the session before. “It would be higher than the annual average for 2015 by around 1.5 percent”, Texler said.
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Russian Federation and OPEC were both pumping oil at near record volumes last month, with Russian Federation reaching another post-Soviet high of 10.88 million bpd.
LONDON – Oil prices fell on Friday but are set for their first weekly increase this month as talk of a coordinated plan by producers to freeze output levels was tempered by a record build in United States crude inventories. Iraq said Thursday it backs any decision to support prices and balance the market without indicating whether it would cap its own output. Likewise, lraq, reeling from conflict and facing the most severe economic crisis, has not-and is not likely to-commit.
“The agreement will produce an effect even without Iran but Iran, in my opinion, can also be interested in agreements of such kind”, the official said. However the negotiations with Iran on the oil production level have not been completed yet.
Spot platinum rose 0.49% or $4.64 to $949.39 an ounce, but COMEX silver fell 0.21% or three cents to $15.40 an ounce.
Saudi Arabia has suspended a $3 billion aid package for the Lebanese army to buy French arms, its state news agency said on Friday, in what an official described as a response to Beirut’s failure to condemn attacks on the kingdom’s missions in Iran.
Also at play since that time is the dramatic drop in world crude oil prices.
Moreover, some market watchers worry that Chinese oil demand – one of the bright spots – might slow down as the country gradually veers toward a services-oriented economy from an energy-intensive one.
“If other producers want to limit or agree to a freeze in terms of additional production, that may have an impact on the market, but Saudi Arabia is not prepared to cut production”, Jubeir told AFP in an exclusive interview.
“It has been another tumultuous week for oil markets this week after… newsflow has pointed to a potential resolution to the ongoing supply glut”, said analyst James Hughes at traders GKFX.
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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members and non-OPEC oil producers finally opened up to the idea of supporting prices through their respective production strategies. The managing director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, H.Kumar, however, explained that they are going slow on purchase of Latin America oil and probably this may explain the fall.
