Oil Price Falls 4% after OPEC Gathering amid Growing Concern of Weak Demand!
OPEC and its allies had agreed to extend their oil cut by another nine months to support oil prices amid a weakening global economy.
On Tuesday, July 2, 2019, OPEC had met with its allies including Russia (OPEC+) to discuss trimming oil output for nine months to support oil prices amid a weakening global economy.
Before the meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that he had agreed with Riyadh to maintain the cut with a combined production of 1.2 million bpd or 1.2% of world demand.
Agreeing on the deal, the allies had approved the oil cut, but the oil prices turned against the decision and fell as much as 4%, the lowest decline since May 31 and the biggest drop after an OPEC meeting since November 2014.
Brent futures plunged $2.66 or 4.1%, to $62.40/barrel while WTI crude futures tumbled $2.84 or 4.8% to $56.25/barrel after a rally for almost two weeks, buoyed by the missing oil production of Philadelphia Oil Refinery that had announced a shutdown. In the morning of Wednesday, oil prices edged higher as Brent gained 0.35% and WTI added 0.39%.
A sudden plunge after the meeting might be due to the worry of weak demand and various signs of a global economic slowdown that has been dragging markets down. The nine-month cut to raise oil price might face a rocky road unlike what it had been through in the past.
