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Brent crude futures fell 63 cents, or 0.82%, to $76.57 a barrel
by 1211 GMT. U.S. WTI crude futures fell by 58 cents, or 0.8%,
to $71.74 a barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies
such as Russia (OPEC+) agreed on voluntary output cuts of about
2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024
late last week.
Saudi and Russian officials added this week that the cuts could
be extended or deepened beyond March.
But both benchmarks closed at their lowest level since July 6 in
the previous session, on a run of four straight days of losses.
"The decision to further reduce output from January failed to
stimulate the market and the recent, seemingly coordinated,
assurances from Saudi Arabia and Russia to extend the
constraints beyond 1Q 2024 or even deepen the cuts if needed
have also fallen to deaf ears," PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.
Saudi Arabia cut its official selling price (OSP) for flagship
Arab Light to Asia in January for the first time in seven
months. Cutting OSPs could be "a sign that demand for barrels is
struggling to gain traction," Varga added.
Concerns over China's economic health, which could limit overall
fuel demand in the world's second-largest oil consumer, also
weighed on prices.
Rating agency Moody's lowered the outlook on China's A1 rating
to negative from stable on Tuesday.
China will release preliminary trade data, including crude oil
import data, on Thursday. Earlier expectations showed China's
refinery runs to have declined in November.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has travelled to the United
Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, to meet with the
UAE's President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
At his meeting in the Abu Dhabi, Putin discussed Russia and the
UAE's cooperation in OPEC+ and other major oil and gas projects.
(Reporting by Robert Harvey in London, Andrew Hayley in Beijing
and Trixie Yap in Singapore, Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and
Louise Heavens)
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