Oil prices slump on oversupply concerns as Saudi-led OPEC+ eyes production hike
Oil prices settled sharply lower Thursday as Saudi Arabia reportedly will abandon its unofficial $100 price target as it looks set to proceed with an OPEC+ to boost output in December.
At 2:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT), Brent oil futures fell 2.7% to $70.97 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 2.9% to settle at $67.67 a barrel.
The Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is preparing to abandon its unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude as it prepares to increase output.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is traditionally lead by the Sauids, along with the group's allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, have been cutting oil output to support prices.
Earlier this month, the group decided to push back plans to gradually phase out the additional cuts of 2.2 million bpd over the course of a year by two months to December.
Sources told the FT that OPEC+ os set to proceed with plans to increase oil output on September despite the recent fall in oil prices as the impact would likely be blunted by some pledges from members to make deeper cuts to comply offset the production that was in excess of the agreed quotas.
Source: Reuters
