Oil prices mixed but expected output increase drags

Reuters  |  SEOUL 

By Jane Chung

futures were up 31 cents, or 0.41 percent, at $75.61 a barrel at 0213 GMT, after settling at their lowest since May 8 at $75.30.

U.S. Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.05, or 1.55 percent, at $66.83 a barrel, sitting around its lowest since April 17.

"Investors have started in the likelihood of and increasing crude oil production," said in a note.

"However, doubt remains, with any agreement to be finalised at the June meeting."

Concerns that and could boost output have put downward pressures on oil prices, along with rising in the

Saudi Arabia and Russia have discussed raising and non-by some 1 million barrels per day to make up potential supply shortfalls from and

The Organization of the Exporting Countries (OPEC) is due to meet in on June 22.

The spread between Brent and WTI stands at around $8.7 a barrel, the widest since March 2015 due to the depressed price of U.S. crude compared to Brent.

"The way I see it is that WTI prices are stabilising rather than falling after rising sharply in recent weeks because the prices were expected to be in the range of $55-$65 a barrel," said Vincent Hwang, at in Seoul.

"But at the same time there are some worries over a fall in U.S. if more crude supplies flow into the market," Hwang said.

Meanwhile, from the are expected to head to in coming months, nibbling away the market share of OPEC and Russia.

U.S. has surged by more than 27 percent in the last two years to 10.73 million barrels per day (bpd). That puts the ahead of top exporter Saudi Arabia, and only Russia pumps out more, at around 11 million bpd.

(Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Joseph Radford)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, May 29 2018. 09:29 IST