Stable oil and interest turns into a potential oversupply

Oil prices held steady on Friday, while Saudi Arabia and Russia, the architects of the global supply cut agreement, signaled ahead of an important OPEC meeting in Vienna next week that output could increase.

As of 0658 GMT, Brent crude was up 3 cents to $ 75.97 a barrel after setting the settlement price down 80 cents in the previous session.

US crude rose 5 cents to $ 66.94 a barrel after ending the previous session by 25 cents. Crude hit a two-week high of $ 67.16 on Thursday.

Brent and West Texas hit their highest levels in three and a half years in May but have since quietly fallen as US crude oil production and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other allies appear to be ready to boost production when they meet in the Austrian capital on June 22-23.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday after talks with his Saudi counterpart Khaled al-Falih in Moscow that the two countries supported "in principle" the gradual withdrawal of the agreement.

"In general, we support this ... but the details will be discussed with ministers within a week," Novak said, adding that one option would be to increase production by 1.5 million bpd gradually, possibly from July 1.

Al-Faleh did not provide specific expectations for the form of any agreement in Vienna. But he said, "We'll see where we're going, but I think we'll reach an agreement that satisfies, above all, the market."

Many analysts expect the meeting to result in an increase in production.
"The deal has been far from certain yet, given the fact that the Russians seem to want exceptional revenues that are much stronger than most OPEC members," said Greg McKenna, chief market analyst at AxiTrader Futures Trading.

"My guess is that the increase will be less than one million barrels per day that the United States is supposed to have asked the Saudis."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Saudi Arabia wanted to continue cooperation with Russia on world oil markets.

In the meantime, oil received some support after the attacks closed major oil ports in Libya on Thursday, reducing production by 240 thousand barrels per day.

South Korea's imports of Iranian crude oil in May fell to their lowest level since January 2016 as South Korean buyers sought to cut Iranian oil imports amid new US sanctions on Tehran.

Article Credit: https://economy-news.net/
Special thanks to Charles Bright!!