(Bloomberg) — Oil fell for a fourth day as traders looked forward to this week’s delayed OPEC+ meeting and financial markets as a whole adopted a risk-averse tone.
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Global benchmark Brent crude fell below $80 a barrel after falling in each of the past five weeks, the longest such period since late 2021. Crude fell alongside stocks earlier this week, as data showed profits at Chinese industrial companies rose at a record pace. a much slower pace in October, highlighting risks to growth in the world’s largest crude importer.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries had to postpone the crucial meeting to decide on supply policy by four days, to November 30, due to a dispute over quotas. Signs of weakness in crude futures have traders and analysts expecting the group to take additional steps to tighten the market.
Brent has fallen by almost a fifth from its peak in late September due to increased supply from non-OPEC+ countries and a shrinking war risk premium between Israel and Hamas. The International Energy Agency forecast earlier this month that the market would fall back into a surplus state next year.
“Sentiment in the oil market remains negative,” ING analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note. “We believe the Saudis will continue this reduction and it is increasingly likely that we will see a larger reduction from the group as a whole. In doing so, the group would provide good support to the market by 2024.”
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