Oil prices softened in early trade on Friday, weighed on by conflicting messages from Russia and Saudi Arabia ahead of the next OPEC+ policy meeting and a stronger dollar.
Brent crude fell 30 cents to $75.96 a barrel at 0315 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate was down by 14 cents at $71.69 a barrel. Benchmarks settled more than $2 per barrel lower on Thursday, after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak played down the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts at its meeting in Vienna on June 4.
Both prices however were still poised to post a second week of gains of slightly less than 1%. “Crude prices are weakening as king dollar returns and after Russia slashes any Saudi hope of delivering another production cut at the June 4 meeting,” said senior market analyst Edward Moya Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that energy prices were approaching “economically justified” levels, also indicating there could be no immediate change to the group’s production policy.
Their remarks contrasted with comments this week from Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the de-facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), warning short sellers to “watch out”. – REUTERS
