- Crude oil prices settle slightly lower as the market awaited clarify on a potential but far-from-assured output cut agreement from major oil producers ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna this week; WTI -0.7% at $52.89/bbl, Brent -0.8% at $61.56/bbl.
- Saudi Arabia’s oil minister had cast doubt yesterday on whether a deal would be reached, but OPEC's joint ministerial monitoring committee today recommended a six-month production cut of at least 1M bbl/day.
- However, no agreement on firm volumes or individual quotas has been reached so far, and uncertainty remains over the baseline from which cuts would be made.
- Pres. Trump weighed in again today, tweeting "Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The world does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!"
- "OPEC has a long history of playing a bit of smoke and mirrors in situations like this," says analyst Dominick Chirichella of Energy Management Institute, foreseeing a "significant cut" of 1M bbl/day or more.
- ETFs: USO, OIL, UWT, UCO, DWT, SCO, BNO, DBO, DTO, USL, DNO, OLO, SZO, OLEM, WTIU, OILK, OILX, WTID, USOI, USOU, USOD, OILD, OILU, USAI
- Now read: What Is The Outlook For Oil?
Original article