Crude-oil prices slid back below $30 a barrel in early Asia trade Tuesday after Saudi Arabia reiterated it wouldn’t cut investments despite current low prices, stoking fears the market would remain saturated for much longer.
Crude-oil prices slid back below $30 a barrel in early Asia trade Tuesday after Saudi Arabia reiterated it wouldn’t cut investments despite current low prices, stoking fears the market would remain saturated for much longer.
As MarketWatch reports on the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March CLH6, -2.34% traded at $29.45 a barrel, down $0.89, or 2.9% in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude LCOH6, -2.07% on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $1.03, or 3.4%, to $29.47 a barrel.
It is said that both grades fell more than 5%, snapping a two-session winning streak. Oil prices have dropped around 18% since the beginning of the year and analysts said prices would likely stay volatile at least until the end of the first half.
«Iraq’s robust oil exports are also worsening market sentiment. The country exported 99.7 million barrels of oil in December at an average price of $29.288 a barrel, according to the Ministry of Oil, the second highest export volume in 2015 but the lowest in dollar terms», MW stresses.
Reuters reminds that senior OPEC and Russian oil industry officials stepped up vague talk on Monday of possible joint action to remedy one of the worst supply gluts in decades, while Saudi Arabia signaled its resolve to allow the market to balance itself.
