What's Moving the Oil Markets?

What's Moving the Oil Markets?

•ICE Brent crude futures in London extended Monday's losses as market skepticism about OPEC cutting real barrels prompted fears of oversupply and pushed prices lower, traders said. "Hedge funds have been heavy sellers amidst the lack of bullish news," Man Financial said adding that market is looking for more concrete evidence of real cuts.

•On October 19, OPEC agreed during an emergency meeting in Doha to cut actual production by 1.2 million b/d from current output of 27.5 million b/d. "Since OPEC's cutback announcement, there has been much focus on the credibility of the deal with skeptics debating the distribution of cuts and especially the relatively sizable ones attributed to countries that are already operating below their quota levels such as Venezuela, Indonesia and Nigeria," Kevin Norrish, energy analyst at Barclays Capital, said in a report.

•ICE gasoil futures for November delivery was trading $3.75/mt higher than Monday's settle on colder than average temperatures across much of the US northeast, a major heating oil consuming region. In Europe, temperatures were set to be above average for the next few days.

Updated: 10/24/06

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