Oil prices up in Asia ahead of OPEC meeting, U.S. report

“The overarching concern in this market is the growing inventory levels for crude, and that doesn’t seem to be easing despite the strong refinery runs we’ve been having”, said Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago. In response to the question of how low oil prices could go next year if Opec fails to take action, del Pino said “mid-20s”.

The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell as much as 0.70% to an intraday low of 98.80, before moving back above 99 in US afternoon trading.

Crude prices rose as much as 1 per cent yesterday after Saudi Arabia’s pledge to work on price stability offset a few worries about the global oil market glut. “We don’t agree with that position of Saudi Arabia”, the minister said on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit in Tehran. “While an increase in Iranian production is not a surprise, it will be a negative when it hits the market”.

Brent oil settled 1 per cent higher on Friday on pre-weekend short-covering, while United States crude settled lower but just above the $40-per-barrel support it has struggled to defend after a surge in inventories. Currently, Brent futures for January delivery are down by 1.88% at $43.82 per barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Saudi Arabia is working with producers inside and outside the 12-member group to stabilise the market, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi said in Bahrain Thursday.

The 12-nation oil cartel is scheduled to meet on December 4 in Vienna but few in the market expect OPEC to deviate from its strategy. Crude demand is expected to rise by one million barrels a day every year in this decade, and the world requires more investments in oil to compensate for declining recovery rates, he said.

On Monday, in the early Asian trade, crude futures dropped. U.

The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. OPEC has produced above its target of 30 million barrels a day for months.

USA crude futures have been particularly battered as data from the Energy Information Administration showed an eighth straight week of stock builds. Rather than accounting for the realities of the supply-and-demand dynamics, traders are moving oil according to momentum, patterns, and, of course, historical pricing.