Oil prices fell today in a volatile market on speculation that OPEC may still boost output at its meeting this week despite last week's sharp price drop.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery was down 67 cents to $88.04 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Europe. The contract had earlier traded as high as $89.94 and as low as $87.47.
In London, January Brent crude dropped 24 cents to $88.02 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Crude oil contracts tumbled last week on expectations that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree at a meeting Wednesday to raise production to help ease high oil prices. That sent prices to their lowest level Friday since Oct. 25 — quite a turnaround from the start of that week when prices were approaching $100 a barrel.
"With oil prices having since receded and comments from some Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries officials quite noncommittal on what Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may or may not do, I think maybe there's just a bit more caution coming into the market," said David Moore, a commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
In recent days, several Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ministers have said their nations are ready to boost oil output to bring down high oil prices. Analysts speculate that the cartel will boost production by anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million barrels a day.
But Sunday, Venezuela's oil minister said his country will oppose any increase in crude oil output quotas during the Dec. 5 OPEC meeting in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
"We don't see a need to increase oil production ... The market is well supplied," Rafael Ramirez told reporters.
Some analysts, however, said Saudi Arabia, the main OPEC country with spare capacity, could push for a production boost.
"The price collapse of last week could be seen as a lesser incentive for Saudi Arabia to sponsor a new increase," Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland said in a research note. "However, we need to keep in mind that they surprised everybody by sponsoring a (500,000-barrel-a-day) increase at the previous meeting on Sept. 11."
Meanwhile, prices were being supported by news that leading international powers may agree within weeks on a third U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program.
A French diplomat said after closed-door talks in Paris on Saturday that a compromise text on a new resolution would be circulated this week among the six countries involved — the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.
Clamor for new sanctions — led by the United States, Britain and France — mounted after Friday's collapse of an 18-month European Union effort to persuade Iran to stop uranium enrichment.
Iran is Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries's second-largest producer, and any hint of new tensions over Tehran's nuclear defiance can cause jittery markets to jump on worries about potential supply disruptions.
Heating oil futures fell 2.35 cents to $2.4915 a gallon (3.8 liters) on the Nymex, while gasoline prices were down 1.31 cents to $2.2175 a gallon. Natural gas futures dropped 21.4 cents to $7.088 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Via: Associated Press
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