Oil’s losses extended for fourth day amid OPEC+ uncertainty

The US Crude Oil benchmark, WTI, has extended its losses for four consecutive days due to factors such as the Greenback’s recovery and demand concerns countering supply worries. The benchmark is trading at $72.72 per barrel, down 0.41%. In the latest OPEC+ meeting, members agreed to output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024, with 1.3 million of those provided by an extension of Saudi Arabia and Russia’s voluntary cuts since August 2023.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to discuss OPEC+ cooperation, oil prices are experiencing a heavy drop as Crude prices hit the current floor around $74.

OPEC+ talks could indicate that both nations are looking for ways to share the burden with other OPEC+ countries. In the latest meeting, Russia and Saudi Arabia had to take the bulk load of production cuts for their account, while African participants refused to take any cuts.

The US dollar is rallying for a second day in a row after China received a negative outlook from Moody’s and the European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel mentioned that inflation is near target and the ECB is at the end of its hiking cycle.

This has made markets backtrack on the idea that the US Federal Reserve would be the first to cut interest rates, supporting US yields and placing the US Dollar at higher value than the Euro and other currencies. Crude Oil (WTI) trades at $73.70 per barrel and Brent Oil trades at $78.52 per barrel.

Russian seaborn oil exports drop to a 3-month-low on Black Sea storms. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said OPEC+ Oil production cuts can “absolutely” stay in place until March and beyond if needed. However, no real moves in Crude or Brent prices have taken notice. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is due to release its weekly stockpile changes, which recorded a small drawdown of 0.817 million barrels the previous week.