TIL Desk/Business/London-Oil prices jumped around 3.0 per cent in value as the dollar weakened before a meeting of crude producing nations in Algeria to discuss a stubborn supply glut. Against a backdrop of depressed prices despite today’s rally, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are meeting this week with key non-OPEC producer Russia on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Algiers.
Pre-forum talks last week between OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and fellow member Iran resulted in neither willing to commit to trimming overproduction, sending prices plunging more than 3.0 per cent on Friday. Around 16.15 GMT today, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November was up USD 1.47 at USD 47.36 a barrel. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November rallied USD 1.37 to USD 45.85 compared with Friday’s close.
Oil prices have been hammered by a lingering supply glut since late 2014, sending them to near 13-year lows below USD 30 in January. While the market has recovered, crude futures are still weak, the head of Gulf giant Saudi Aramco said today, warning that market volatility could persist in the near future. “While the oil market has recovered from its most severe period, it’s still weak,” Aramco chief executive officer Amin Nasser said at an energy conference in Dubai.
