Oil Drops 1% as Investors Weigh on OPEC’s Output-Hike Decision

Oil prices dropped more than 1% in the afternoon of the Asia trading session as investors anticipated OPEC+’s decision for further production cuts amid the spreading of coronavirus.

 

As of 15:46 local time in Thailand, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for January dropped $0.64 per barrel or 1.4% to $44.89 per barrel. Meanwhile, the international benchmark Brent crude fell $0.84 per barrel of 1.74% to $47.34 per barrel for January.

Oil prices fell from a series of rallies in the past week as investors waited for a decision by producer group OPEC and its allies whether to extend large output cuts to balance global demands.

 

The group agreed to the largest single output cut in history in April this year as the coronavirus outbreak plunged global demand to one of its worst, and the group agreed to a record cut of 7.7 million barrels per day to match demand. It was planned that OPEC+ would raise 2 million barrels of production (2% of global consumption) in January 2021.

However, the ramp up in oil production is expected to be delayed, according to analysts’ consensus.