JABAR EKSPRES – Crude oil futures prices fell in late trading Thursday (Friday morning WIB), after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak ruled out the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts at its meeting next week.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for July delivery slumped US$2.51, or 3.38 percent, to settle at US$71.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude oil futures for July delivery slumped 2.10 US dollars, or 2.68 percent, to close at 76.26 US dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak played down the possibility of more production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners at their next meeting in early June, according to a report by Reuters on Thursday (5/25).
Oil prices started to fall after Novak said he did not think additional OPEC+ cuts were likely.
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“I don’t think there will be any new steps, because only a month ago certain decisions were made regarding voluntary reduction of oil production by some countries…” Novak was quoted as saying by Izvestia newspaper.
In recent days, leading OPEC+ producers have given a series of conflicting messages about the next oil policy move, making it difficult to predict the outcome of the next meeting.
Earlier, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman’s warning to speculators in the oil market led to expectations of another production cut.
Just a week before Prince Abdulaziz’s comments, Russian President Vladimir Putin said oil production cuts were necessary to maintain certain price levels.
Losses in the session were limited by optimism that US President Joe Biden and key Republican congressman Kevin McCarthy appeared close to an agreement to cut spending and raise the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, with little time to spare to avert the risk of default.
