Oil Prices ///
Futures closed 1.5% higher in New York on Friday, buoyed by a partial truce in the U.S.-China trade war that has imperiled demand all year. Chinese officials said the countries agreed to hold off on a new round of tariffs set to go into effect in a matter of days.
Crude is poised for a modest gain this week due to the positive sentiment around the trade deal, having surged by more than 7% last week as OPEC and its allies announced a surprise production cut.
With its campaign to diversify the economy and efforts within OPEC, Saudi Arabia’s focus is on trying to “bring stability” to its revenue and the market, Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said in an interview.
Oil doubters got a surprise from Saudi Arabia on Friday: a pledge of deeper production cuts that sent futures surging for their best week since June.
OPEC+ will adjust its output target and redistribute production cuts between its members under pressure from Saudi Arabia.
OPEC stood on the verge of a deal to reduce its official output target in line with recent production, but after six hours of fraught talks in Vienna on Thursday ministers left the cartel’s headquarters before a final agreement was nailed down.
Saudi Arabia appeared to be on track to forge a new quid pro quo with fellow OPEC+ members: If you stop cheating, we’ll keep on cutting.
Oil held its biggest surge in more than two months as OPEC ministers gather in Vienna do discuss output cuts.
Saudi Oil Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, in Vienna for his first meeting since taking the top job, is willing to raise production slightly if other countries keep failing to meet their existing output target, according to OPEC delegates.
Oil rose as the U.S. and China moved closer to a trade deal and before the OPEC+ alliance meets later this week to consider extending its output-cut policy.
OPEC and its allies sent mixed signals about whether they were considering deeper production cuts, fanning oil-market speculation before crucial talks in Vienna this week.
Oil rose for a second day as investors focused on the upcoming OPEC+ meeting that could lead to deeper supply cuts by some of the world’s biggest crude producers.
Natural gas prices capped their biggest November drop since 2001 as forecasts showed no sign of the teeth-chattering U.S. cold needed to boost demand for the heating fuel.
For years, OPEC ignored the rise of the U.S. shale industry and came to regret its mistake. Now, the group is making another bold gamble on America’s oil revolution: that its golden age is over.
Iraq said that OPEC and its allies will consider deeper production cuts, though the comments come after the coalition has widely signaled reluctance to take such action.
The U.S. solidified its status as an energy producer by posting the first full month as a net exporter of crude and petroleum products since government records began in 1949.
For the last year, Saudi Arabia has largely turned a blind eye to cheaters within the OPEC+ alliance, cutting its own output more than agreed to offset over-production from the likes of Iraq and even Russia. Now, Riyadh’s had enough.
Any expectations that OPEC and its partners will make deeper cuts to oil production have all but evaporated.
Russia, OPEC’s largest ally in a deal to cut oil production, is once again failing to keep its side of the bargain.
Oil advanced, shedding earlier losses, amid growing optimism about prospects for a settlement in the long-running U.S.-China trade war.