Oil prices decline with the rise in the number of US rigs | Investment News

PHOTO FEATURE: An oil pump ram pumps oil into a field near Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 21, 2014. REUTERS / Todd Korol / File PhotoReuters

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Crude oil prices dropped on Monday morning in Asia, as drilling activity in the United States grew and Russia's largest oil producer put pressure on President Vladimir Putin. for it to terminate the offer reduction agreement reached with OPEC, a group of producers dominated by the Middle East.

The WTI futures price (West Texas Intermediate) was $ 52.44 per barrel at 00:36 GMT, down 28 cents (0.5%) from their latest settlement.

Brent International crude futures fell 10 cents, or 0.2%, to $ 62 a barrel.

In the United States, energy companies have increased the number of oil rigs in operation for the second time in three weeks, a weekly report from Baker Hughes said Friday.

The companies added 7 oil rigs on February 8, bringing the total to 854, indicating a further increase in US crude oil production, which is already at a record 11.9 million barrels per day.

Elsewhere, the head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin, wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the agreement between Moscow and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to withhold production was a strategic threat and was playing in the hands of the United States. States.

The so-called OPEC + agreement has been in place since 2017 and aims to limit a global oversupply. It has been extended several times and under the last agreement, participants reduce their production from 1.2 million bpd until the end of June.

OPEC and its allies will meet in Vienna on 17 and 18 April to discuss the pact.

Preventing crude prices from falling further was the application of US sanctions against Venezuela, targeting its public oil company PDVSA.

"The problems in Venezuela continue to support prices." Reports are becoming clear, as PDVSA is striving to secure new markets for its crude after the United States has imposed additional sanctions on the United States. country, "ANZ bank said on Monday.

(Report by Henning Gloystein, edited by Joseph Radford)

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