Investing.com - The price of oil declined Friday, as traders mulled whether the OPEC production cuts would be as effective as forecast late last year.
The price of crude oil settled at $53.65, down 0.20% today.
The price of Brent oil settled at $56.78, a decline of 0.19%.
Investors purchased futures ahead of the weekend, but the strong U.S. dollar limited price gains, as did overhanging doubts about whether all OPEC producers would cut output in line with an agreement reached Nov. 30.
Volumes were relatively low today, at the conclusion of the first week of trading of 2017.
Top crude producer Saudi Arabia and neighbors Abu Dhabi and Kuwait showed signs they were indeed cutting production in performance with an agreement by OPEC and other producers. Russia is not yet complying the the OPEC cut, which it agreed to in December, even though it is not an OPEC member, experts said.
The Kurds and the Iraqis are not expected to comply, even though Baghdad is a member of OPEC, according to analysts.
The Iranians are said to have millions of barrels of oil stored on ocean tankers which it is expected to start selling in order to regain market share lost during recent years, according to experts.
Saudi Aramco is telling its customers that it will reduce production by 3% or 7% this month to put the plans in motion.
In other news impacting global markets, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that allegations of Russian hacking have, at best, influenced some public opinion, but did not influence actual voting or give President-elect Trump an edge during the election last year. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) agencies briefed Trump today, and also released materials to the media regarding their investigation of the unproven charges.
"There number one goal was to create doubt about our electoral system," said Rubio, himself a failed candidate for president last year. "Having people questioning Hillary Clinton, had she won, would have accomplished that goal too."