LONDON: Brent crude oil prices steadied around US$80 a barrel yesterday, ahead of a meeting of Opec oil producers to decide on production levels for next year.
Brent was trading at US$80.35 a barrel at 1440GMT, up 67 cents.
US crude was up 70 cents at US$76.48.
Oil prices have fallen by almost a third since June and are far below what most Opec members and rival producers such as Russia need to balance their budgets.
Several Opec members want the group to cut production dramatically to ease a global supply glut, but Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter, appears reluctant to endorse a big cut.
Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said yesterday Opec would seek a “consensual step” to bring stability to the oil market.
“This is arguably the most important Opec meeting since the 2008/09 crisis,” said Virendra Chauhan, an oil analyst at London-based consultancy Energy Aspects.
No comments:
Post a Comment