CRUDE OIL PRICES RISES AS OPEC+ WEIGHS OUTPUT REDUCTION

February West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures rose $1.63, or 3.42%, to $49.24 per barrel at 13:44 GMT on Tuesday. US crude prices had a challenging start to 2021, slipping about 1%.

Brent, the international benchmark for oil prices, is also rising in early trading. March Brent crude futures raised $1.66, or 3.25%, to $52.75 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. Brent slid close to 2% on Monday.

As stated in an OPEC document recorded on January 4, Saudi Arabia and broader partners argued for rising output due to resumed lockdowns and constraints regarding the COVID-19’s variant. Russia is selling for more outstanding production, which executives made clear before OPEC interested in virtual conferences in January.

Could this be the origin of Moscow and Riyadh’s disagreement over production policy like last year?

OPEC is evaluating a possible production cut of 500,000 barrels per day (BPD) for February.

It is also considering other plans that consist of either concrete production or a boost of 500,000 BPD. Commerzbank analysts believe a resolution could be smoothed out by the end of Tuesday.

There had previously been concerns that the agreement reached by OPEC+ in December, which would see production settled continuously, would be of little advantage to anyone. Nevertheless, as it was then, it is yet the case that no deal would be the most unfavorable outcome of all. They, hence, exact some agreement to be reached today.

In a research letter, Fitch Solutions stated that near-term demand growth would either stall or drop in North America, Europe, and the Middle East for the following several months.

Crude markets were caught aback by new additions in Tehran. The Iranian military took a South Korean oil tanker in the Strait of Hurmuz. The Iranian government is proceeding to enhance uranium, a move that would stop removing US sanctions on the administration, eliminating the nation’s return to the export market.

In other energy commodities, February natural gas futures surged $0.114, or 4.45%, to $2.675 per million British thermal units (BTU). February gasoline futures hit up $0.0475, or 3.46%, to $1.4204 per gallon. February heating oil futures swelled $0.0475, or 3.25%, to $1.5095 a gallon.