Oil Rises as Saudi Arabia Pledges Deep Cut to August Exports

Futures rose as much as 1 percent in New York. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, will limit exports to 6.6 million barrels a day in August, 1 million lower than year earlier, Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih said after a meeting with fellow producers. The nations gathering in St. Petersburg, Russia, made no major changes to their wider supply agreement, stopping short of capping output of Libya and Nigeria.

“Some countries continue to lag” in their compliance “which is a concern we must address head on,” Al-Falih told reporters before the meeting ended. While other producers support the recovery in output from Libya and Nigeria “the committee, however, should monitor the impact of such growth in supply on global supply-demand balances.”

West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was at $46.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 0.8 percent, at 11:25 a.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 55 percent above the 100-day average.

Brent for September settlement was 46 cents higher at $48.52 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices lost 1.7 percent last week. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.38 to WTI.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-24/oil-holds-losses-near-46-before-opec-committee-meets-on-cuts