Around 4:50 p.m., the Brent displays a loss of 1.30% to $ 62.72 and WTI drops 1.49% to 58.36 dollars.
Oil prices retreat on Friday, faced with the fears of investors that OPEC+ announces on Saturday a higher increase than expected of its production for the month of June.
According to press information, the organization of petroleum exporting countries and its allies (OPEC+) advanced its video conference on Monday to Saturday where the production of June must be determined.
According to the current plan, 137,000 daily barrels must be introduced on the market, but some investors expect, as was done for the month of May, to a greater increase than expected.
The group “could, according to rumors, increase its production of 411,000 barrels per day in June”, explains Jorge Leon of Rystad Energy, to AFP.
And if it is usual for the cartel to make these decisions on weekends when the markets are closed, advancing the meeting suggests a “slightly superior probability” of production increase beyond the plan, explains the analyst.
In reaction, around 2:50 p.m. GMT (4:50 p.m. HEC), the price of the Brent of the North Sea, for delivery in July, lost 1.30% to 62.72 dollars.
Its American equivalent, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate, for delivery in June, dropped 1.49% to 58.36 dollars.
These production increases from OPEC+, despite already very low price on the market, may aim to “punish cheaters who do not respect their quotas such as Kazakhstan and Iraq, but this can also aim to gain market share”, according to Arne Lohmann Rasmussen.
“It would make sense to Saudi Arabia”, the most influential member within OPEC+, “to increase their production quickly to take market share”, abounds Mr. Leon.
Indeed, if discussions on Iranian nuclear and the search for a lasting ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine lead, American sanctions against Moscow and Tehran could soften and allow the export of new barrels.
On the other hand, if the negotiations between the United States and Iran do not advance, Washington could apply more sanctions against Iran.
“This could withdraw more than a million barrels per day on the market,” predicts Arne Lohmann Rasmussen by Global Risk Management, which could bring the courses.
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