Crude oil prices settled lower Monday after a choppy trading session, as Saudi Arabia and Russia have not yet agreed to extend the Opec+ output-cutting deal, and U.S.-China trade tensions continued to threaten crude demand, Kallanish Energy understands.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 73 cents lower, at $53.26 per barrel, falling 1.4% for the day. Front-month Brent crude futures fell $1, or 1.6%, to $62.29/Bbl.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Monday Russia was the only oil exporter still undecided on whether to extend the output deal agreed to by top producers, the group known as Opec+.
Comprised of most Opec members and a number of non-Opec producers led by Russia, Opec+ since Jan. 1, has worked to withhold 1.2 million barrels per day of crude from the market.
Moscow is considering whether further cuts could allow the U.S. to take Russian market share. Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said there’s still a risk oil producers pump too much crude and prices fall sharply. Novak said he could not rule out a drop in oil prices to $30/Bbl if the global deal was not extended.
Many oil exporting countries have confirmed they are prepared to hold a policy meeting with Opec in Vienna July 2-4, instead of the scheduled date later this month, Novak said.
Analysts said there were still concerns about the health of the global economy with no signs of an end in sight to the U.S.’s trade war with China.
President Trump said additional tariffs on Chinese goods were ready to be implemented after the G20 summit later this month if no trade deal is reached with China.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.