Oil prices steady as Russia touts easing OPEC+ output

Oil prices were little changed yesterday as Russia said an OPEC-led producer group may consider easing output cuts next year, offsetting support from some investor optimism that an initial U.S.-China trade deal would be signed soon. Brent crude LCOc1 was up 25 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $66.39 per barrel by 12:08 p.m.

ET (1705 GMT) in thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 was up 11 cents, or 0.2pc, at $60.55 a barrel. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other top producing nations led by Russia agreed this month to extend and deepen output cuts in the first quarter of 2020. However, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said yesterday that the group, known as OPEC+, may consider easing the output restrictions at their meeting in March.

“We can consider any options, including gradual easing of quotas, including continuation of the deal,” Novak told Russia’s RBC TV in an interview recorded last week, adding that Russia’s oil output was set to hit a record high this year. Non-OPEC global supply is expected to rise next year due to higher output from countries including the United States, Brazil, Norway and Guyana, which became an oil producer last week.

Another source of more oil could emerge in the coming months after Kuwait indicated that a long-standing dispute over the “Neutral Zone” on its border with Saudi Arabia will be resolved by the end of 2019. Production at two large oil fields in the Neutral Zone was halted more than three years ago, cutting output by some 500,000 barrels per day. “Oil prices remained soft after Friday’s drop that stemmed from the Saudi Arabia and Kuwait deal to resume production along their border ...

The shortsqueeze on oil may be running out of steam but if WTI and Brent prices can hold $60 and $65 respectively, we could see prices remain supported going into the first few weeks of January,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York. Oil prices have risen since the United States and China agreed a so-called Phase 1 trade deal earlier this month following months of tit-for-tat negotiations that unsettled markets.

President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States and China would “very shortly” sign the pact. Under the pact, the United States is expected to agree to reduce some tariffs in return for a big increase in purchases U.S. agricultural products by Chinese importers.