Oil prices declined by 5 percent following the extension of production cuts by Opec causing other oil producing countries to be dismayed who are expecting a bigger reduction. Consequently, crude prices dropped to the highest percentage drop since early March. During the last OPEC meeting, they reached an agreement to prolong supply cuts constitute of 1.8 million barrels per day until the first quarter ends next year and investors are anticipating around half a million extra barrels to be contracted. However, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Khalid Al-Falih said that other ministers find it unnecessary to lessen the output further and nine months is the “optimum” duration.
On the other hand, U.S. shale producers are motivated to provide more supplies because of the cheap cost of oil at $50 bpd. Although, they have to be careful since it could exceed the target increase and bring down further the price, stated by the Texas shale oil producer president David Arrington.
QUICK LINKS