Oil Prices Down as Market Awaits OPEC+ Supply Decision Today

Oil prices were slightly down on Thursday as the market anticipated decisions from a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), that could sway the market.

OPEC+ will meet today (Thursday) and the latest signal is that the 22-member alliance is likely to extend output cuts until the end of the first quarter of next year.

The group has been aiming to unwind output cuts through 2025 but a slowdown in global demand and rising output outside the group pose hurdles to that plan and have weighed on prices.

Brent crude futures fell by 1 cent or 0.01 per cent to $72.31 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by 2 cents or 0.02 per cent to $68.54 per barrel.

OPEC+ members have cut around 5.86 million barrels per day of output, or about 5.7 per cent of global demand, in a series of steps agreed since 2022 to support the market.

Going into the meeting, oil could also bank on support from demand improvement from the US.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory decline of 5.1 million barrels for the week to November 29 on Wednesday.

The change compared with a build of 1.23 million barrels for the week, as estimated by the American Petroleum Institute (API) a day earlier. It also compared with an EIA-estimated draw of 1.8 million barrels for the prior week.

The authority also reported builds in fuel inventories for the period.

In gasoline (petrol), the EIA estimated an inventory build of 2.4 million barrels for the final week of November, compared with a build of 3.3 million barrels for the previous week.

Reuters reported that the OPEC+ decision may prompt a short-term reaction, but the oil market is likely to rise by year-end on expectations of a US economic recovery under the Donald Trump administration and ongoing Middle East tensions.

Israel has continued to attack Hezbollah, putting recent ceasefire deals into jeopardy. It has also warned that it could extend the fighting to the Lebanese state.