|
Brent crude dropped 14 cents or 0.2% to $63.55 a barrel by 1145
GMT, after losing 1.1% the previous day. U.S. West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 2 cents to $60.62 a barrel, having
lost 1.4% on Monday.
They both touched the lowest in more than 6 days, extending
losses that started late last week.
Expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, would boost
oil output from April are pushing prices lower.
"Amid expectations that OPEC+ will increase its output, the
reason oil prices do not fall even more is that some production
comeback is actually expected by traders already," said Bjornar
Tonhaugen, Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets.
"The market understands that oil prices are healthy enough for
more product to be unearthed, the wild card now is how much more
product."
The group meets on Thursday and could discuss allowing as much
as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude back into the
market.
OPEC oil output fell in February as a voluntary cut by Saudi
Arabia added to reductions agreed to under the previous OPEC+
pact, a Reuters survey found, ending a run of seven consecutive
monthly increases.
Meanwhile, China's factory activity growth slipped to a
nine-month low in February, which may curtail Chinese crude
demand and pressure oil prices while oil buying from the world's
top importer has already eased lately.
"There are signs that the physical market is not as tight as
futures markets suggest," ING Economics said in a note.
"Chinese buying is reportedly easing, with demand expected to be
weaker as we go into Q2 for refinery maintenance."
(Reporting by Noah Browning and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Tom
Hogue and Ana Nicolaci da Costa, editing by Louise Heavens)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
