|
 Crude prices were still set to end the week sharply higher as many
investors think a deal to reduce the massive oversupply that has
sent prices tumbling is possible.
Brent futures have jumped by around a quarter since hitting an
intra-day low of $27.10 a barrel on Jan. 20. It hit a high on
Thursday of $35.84.
Brent was down 4 cents to $33.85 a barrel by 1102 GMT on Friday,
after gaining 79 cents, or 2.4 percent, on Thursday.
U.S. crude <CLc1> was up 7 cents to $33.29 a barrel, having settled
up 92 cents, or 2.9 percent, at $33.22 on Thursday.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on Friday
Russian output could decline as a result of lower investment, but
the state would not intervene to balance the market.
That appeared to pour cold water on possible joint OPEC and non-OPEC
production cuts mentioned by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak
on Thursday.
However many analysts think there is still a chance of a deal.
"As the headlines fly it is difficult to be absolutely sure about
each word used but we don’t read 'no meeting scheduled yet' the same
as 'no meeting scheduled'," Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix in
Zug, Switzerland said.
"The 'yet' is not necessarily a 'nyet' and we can therefore continue
to speculate about a possible meeting."
Brent futures rallied as much as 8.2 percent after Russia said on
Thursday that top OPEC producer Saudi Arabia had proposed oil
production cuts of up to 5 percent.
[to top of second column] |
"While we view this outcome as unlikely, a 5 percent production cut
by just Saudi Arabia and Russia would be sufficient to bring the
market close to balance," Jefferies said in a research note on
Friday, referring to Russia's comment.
Figures from Iran underlined the fact that there is no end in sight
to the glut in the market unless there is a cut in production by
major exporters.
Iran's oil exports are set to rise more than a fifth in January and
February from last year's daily average, data from a source with
knowledge of its loading schedules shows, revealing how Tehran is
ramping up sales after the lifting of sanctions.
(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov in London, Meeyoung Cho
in Seoul and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; editing by Susan Thomas
and Jason Neely)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
