Oil falls to $88/barrel, OPEC considers 1mbpd cut

Brent, the global benchmark for crude, appreciated in price on Monday. This is as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies consider an oil output cut of more than a million barrels per day when they meet on October 5, 2022.

Industry figures seen on Monday showed that the cost of Brent moved up by 3.7 per cent or $3.15 to close at $88.3/barrel as at 6.03pm Nigerian time.

Another oil grade, the WTI, also increased in price on Monday. It gained $3.36 or 4.23 per cent to close at $82.83/barrel around the same time.

However, oil grades in the OPEC Basket dipped in price, shedding $0.42 or 0.45 per cent to trade at $92.34/barrel around 6.06pm on Monday.

This came as OPEC sources told Reuters that the oil cartel and its allies were considering an output cut of over one million barrels per day at their meeting coming up tomorrow (Wednesday).

The latest figure is slightly above estimates for a cut given last week, which ranged between 500,000 bpd and 1mbpd.

The meeting to consider a reduction in global oil supply is happening at a time when governments around the world are struggling to control runaway inflation. A cut in supply leads to a rise in petroleum prices for consumers.

Wednesday’s face-to-face meeting of the 13 OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia and its 10 allied members headed by Russia will be the first in the Austrian capital since the spring of 2020.

“It is a meeting that is taking place at a very interesting global time,” one of the sources told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, first flagged the possibility of cuts to correct the market in August.

The cartel had agreed to huge cuts in output in 2020 when the pandemic sent oil prices crashing but began to increase production last year as the market improved.

Now, the output cuts are being considered on the back of a slide in oil prices from multi-year highs reached in March and market volatility.

Oil prices soared to almost $140/barrel in March after the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine but have since fallen to around $80/barrel amid recession fears.