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Brent crude <LCOc1> was down 3 cents at $37.62 a barrel by 1140
GMT after touching a five-month low in the previous session. The
December Brent contract expires on Friday and the January
contract <LCOc2> was trading broadly flat.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 4 cents to $36.13
after dipping to its lowest since June on Thursday. It is on
track for an 11% monthly decline while Brent heads for an 8%
drop.
Prices had swung between slightly positive territory and a more
than 2% decline during Friday's session, with the market
"anxious" about renewed lockdowns in Europe and the U.S.
election next week, a Singapore-based oil trader said.
The U.S. dollar, measured against a basket of currencies <.DXY>,
has also strengthened this week, making dollar-denominated oil
more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and
allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, had planned to
raise output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in January.
However, top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia are in favour of
maintaining the group's current output reduction of about 7.7
million bpd into next year in the face of lockdowns in Europe
and rising Libyan oil output.
OPEC+ is scheduled to hold a policy meeting over Nov. 30 and
Dec. 1.
"The outcome has the potential to send oil prices $10/bbl in
either direction," PVM analysts said of the meeting.
Governments across Europe imposed fresh restrictions this week
to curb the spread of the coronvirus, with Germany saying its
economy will not fully recover before 2022.
While that has reduced mobility and fuel consumption within
Europe, demand in the United States is holding up for now, RBC
Capital's Mike Tran said in a note.
(Additional reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by David Goodman)
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