MOSCOW, Oct 4 World oil prices are down by 3.5%, and the cost of a barrel of Brent has dropped below $88 for the first time since the beginning of September, it follows from trading data.
As of 18.16 Moscow time, the price of December futures for Brent decreased by 3.42%, to $87.81 per barrel, falling below $88 for the first time since September 1. November futures for WTI fell by 3.31% to $86.28.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the OPEC+ monitoring committee confirmed its commitment to the current terms of the deal and thereby recommended maintaining existing oil production quotas. In a communiqué, the alliance stated that the declaration of cooperation would last until the end of 2024. However, the meeting did not bring investors any news about OPEC+'s views on future policy regarding production cuts.
“The oil markets did not like this because there was some expectation that Saudi Arabia would put forward the idea of moving current cuts to 2024. At the same time, there was increasing talk that more supply from non-OPEC countries would enter the market at this week are not working in favor of the bull market,” the MarketWatch portal quotes SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes.
Official data on US oil reserves were also published this afternoon. Commercial oil reserves in the country fell by 2.2 million barrels in the week ending September 29, while analysts expected a decrease of only 0.5 million. However, gasoline reserves increased by 6.5 million barrels over the same period, although experts predicted an increase of 0.2 million.