Oil Prices Fall on Weak Demand

6 Dec 2024 , 10:11 AM

Following the OPEC+ group’s decision to postpone planned production increases and extend deep output cuts until the end of 2026, oil prices declined in early Asian trading on Friday due to sluggish demand.

Brent crude futures dropped 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $72 per barrel. At $68.27 per barrel, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 4 cents, or 0.1%.

WTI managed to hold onto a slim 0.1% gain for the week, but Brent was headed for a more than 1% decline.

On Thursday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies prolonged the entire unwinding of cuts by one year till the end of 2026 and postponed the start of oil output increases by three months until April.

A slowdown in global demand, particularly in China, and rising supply elsewhere have prompted the group, known as OPEC+, which accounts for almost half of the world’s oil production, to repeatedly postpone its plan to begin unwinding cutbacks in October 2024.

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