Abu Dhabi: Oil prices rose on Monday to their highest in three weeks in anticipation of a Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) deal to cut production at their next meeting in Vienna on November 30.
Brent, the global crude oil benchmark, was trading at $47.81 per barrel, up by more than 2 per cent at 4:30 pm UAE time. West Texas Intermediate crude oil price went up by about two per cent to $46.53 per barrel.
“The market is gearing up as though some kind of a deal is announced and implemented. You had a decent bump up in oil prices. The statements that we’ve been seeing from various Opec ministers and figures over the past couple of days, everybody is very optimistic that a deal can be reached,” said Edward Bell, a commodity analyst from Emirates NBD speaking to Gulf News.
Opec Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo met Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh in Tehran on Saturday. They both expressed confidence that an all-inclusive agreement can be reached during the upcoming meeting.
“The participation of Iran in the implementation of the accord is crucial and I remain optimistic,” said the secretary general in a press statement issued by Opec.
Zanganeh on his part pledged continued support for the implementation of the Algiers accord, the statement said. Iraq said it will offer new proposals to help bolster the group’s unity before the crucial meeting next week.
The fourteen member Opec group would be meeting on November 30 to implement an accord that the member countries reached in Algeria on September 28 to reduce output to a range of 32.5 to 33 million barrels a day from the present figure of 33.64 million barrels per day.
