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In the oil markets, the U.S. crude futures contract fell 0.36 percent at $55.49 per barrel during the morning of Asian trade. The global benchmark Brent crude futures contract also fell slightly at $65.43 per barrel.
The moves in the crude markets came after oil prices fell more than 7 percent Tuesday to extend their losing streak to 12 straight sessions. Oil’s decline on Tuesday came after Trump said he hoped OPEC would not cut oil production in order to lift prices.
“Oil prices have dropped sharply since peaking in early October as oversupply concerns have deepened,” Vivek Dhar, a mining and energy commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a morning note.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih had said on Monday that OPEC agreed there was a need to cut oil supply next year by around 1 million barrels per day from October levels.
Commenting on the Saudi move, Dhar said it “demonstrates the kingdom’s willingness to change strategy and lead from the front to address oversupply concerns.”
Dhar, however, warned that “any output cut by Saudi Arabia will require participation from other allied nations. And that could be an uphill battle.”
Australian oil stocks saw a broad decline in afternoon trade, with Santos slipping 4.7 percent, Woodside Petroleum declining 3.56 percent and Beach Energy dropping 5.74 percent.
The fall in shares of oil companies was also mostly seen in Japan, with Inpex falling 2.14 percent, JXTG shedding 2.43 percent and Japan Petroleum Exploration dropping 3.15 percent.
Stocks of South Korean oil companies also saw losses, with S-Oil falling 4.87 percent and SK Innovation declining by 2.75 percent. Over in China, shares of Petrochina declined 2.85 percent while China Petroleum saw losses of 3.07 percent.
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