Little movement in oil prices ahead of U.S. stock report and possible reduction by OPEC+

22 Nov 2023 , 10:13 AM

Wednesday’s Asian trading saw little movement in oil prices as a potentially significant build-up of U.S. crude offset gains brought about by anticipated production curbs from the OPEC+ producers group.

Brent crude futures had increased by 11 cents, or 0.1%, to $82.56 per barrel. At $77.91, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased by 14 cents, or 0.2%.

Investor caution prevailed ahead of Sunday’s scheduled OPEC+ meeting, where the producer group may explore increasing supply restrictions due to weakening global economic growth. Both benchmarks have declined for four weeks running.

Both contracts saw a 2% increase on Monday after three OPEC+ sources informed Reuters that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, producers, were expected to discuss further reductions in oil production during their meeting on November 26.

According to analysts, OPEC+ is expected to continue or perhaps intensify its oil output cutbacks throughout the upcoming year.

The head of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) oil markets and industry section stated on Tuesday that there will be a minor supply surplus in the global oil market in 2024, even if the OPEC+ countries continue their cutbacks into the following year.

According to market sources quoting data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, U.S. crude stockpiles increased by around 9.1 million barrels in the week that concluded on November 17. 

While distillate inventories decreased by approximately 3.5 million barrels, gasoline inventories decreased by approximately 1.79 million barrels.

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