HONG KONG/LONDON: Crude held above $50 (Dh184) a barrel as investors weighed the likelihood of a deal to reduce supply after Russia’s largest oil company said the country was capable of a significant increase in output.

December futures were little changed in New York after declining 2.3 per cent Thursday. Russia has the capacity to add as much as 4 million barrels a day if there’s demand, Rosneft PJSC Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin said, less than two weeks after President Vladimir Putin pledged his support for efforts by Opec to limit output. Front-month prices are still heading for a fifth weekly gain after US crude stockpiles dropped to the lowest level since January.

Oil has fluctuated near $50 a barrel amid uncertainty about whether the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will be able to implement an accord to reduce output when they gather at an official meeting in November. An Opec committee will meet later this month to try to resolve differences over how much individual members should pump. Nigeria said it cut the price of every type of crude it sells in an effort to boost its market share.

“No cooperation” is foreseeable between Russia and Opec said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “It’s not in Russia’s economic interests.”

West Texas Intermediate for December delivery was at $50.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 2 cents, at 9.43am in London. The contract fell $1.19 to $50.63 on Thursday. Total volume traded was about 27 per cent below the 100-day average. The November future expired Thursday down 2.3 per cent at $50.43 a barrel.

Brent for December settlement rose 10 cents to $51.48 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract on Thursday declined $1.29 to $51.38. Prices are down 0.9 per cent this week. The global benchmark traded at a premium of 83 cents to WTI for December.

For a story on the World Bank outlook on prices and the Opec deal, click here.

The market may stabilise by the middle of next year at $52 to $55 a barrel, Sechin said Thursday, cautioning that prices above $50 may spur the recovery of US shale production. Rosneft will carry out any instructions from the Russian Energy Ministry on oil production, he said.

— Bloomberg