LONDON: Oil prices steadied on Monday as US production hit a record high and OPEC members considered boosting supply to balance rising global demand.
Benchmark Brent crude oil was unchanged at $76.79 a barrel by 0845 GMT. US light crude was up 5 cents at 65.86 a barrel. Last week, the US contract lost around 3 percent, adding to a near 5-percent decline from a week before.
“We are going into summer, the high demand season, and I think we are going to see a fall in US crude oil inventories, but shale oil output is growing. Which one is going to win is the issue,” said Tony Nunan, risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp.
US crude production climbed in March to 10.47 million barrels per day (bpd), a monthly record, data from the Energy Information Administration showed last week.
US drillers added two oil rigs in the week to June 1, bringing the total to 861, the most since March 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday. That was the eighth time drillers have added rigs in the past nine weeks.
Arab oil ministers agreed over the weekend on the need for continued cooperation between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other big producers to balance global supply, Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday.
OPEC ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Algeria along with their counterpart from non-OPEC Oman met unofficially in Kuwait on Saturday.
OPEC meets formally on June 22 to set oil policy. It is expected to agree to raise output to cool the market amid worries over Iranian and Venezuelan supply and after Washington raised concerns the oil rally was going too far, OPEC sources familiar with the discussions said last month.
Saudi Arabia, effective OPEC leader, and Russia have discussed boosting output to compensate for supply losses from Venezuela and to address concerns about the impact of US sanctions on Iranian output.
Russia’s largest oil producer, Rosneft, will be able to restore 70,000 bpd of oil output in just two days if global production limits are lifted, Renaissance Capital wrote in a client note.
Hedge funds and other money managers cut their bullish wagers on US crude futures and options, according to data released on Friday, as oil prices slumped on oversupply fears.
Tamas Varga, analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates, said financial investors and money managers were becoming “less enthusiastic about any further upside potential: “Why would they otherwise keep cutting their net length?”
Oil steady as extra US supply balances strong demand
Oil steady as extra US supply balances strong demand
- US crude production climbed in March to 10.47 million barrels per day, a monthly record, data from the Energy Information Administration showed last week
- OPEC ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Algeria along with their counterpart from non-OPEC Oman met unofficially in Kuwait on Saturday
Closing Bell: Saudi stocks slip as Tadawul falls 1% amid broad market weakness
RIYADH: Saudi stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, with the Tadawul All Share Index closing down 108.14 points, or 1.03 percent, at 10,381.51.
The broader decline was reflected across major indices. The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index slipped 0.78 percent to 1,378.00, while Nomu, the parallel market index, fell 1 percent to 23,040.79.
Market breadth was strongly negative on the main board, with 237 stocks falling compared to just 24 gainers. Trading activity remained robust, with 164.7 million shares changing hands and a total traded value of SR3.19 billion ($850.6 million).
Among the gainers, SEDCO Capital REIT Fund led, rising 2.73 percent to SR6.77, followed by Chubb Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co., which gained 2.69 percent to SR20.20.
National Medical Care Co. added 1.72 percent to close at SR141.60, while Alyamamah Steel Industries Co. and Thimar Advertising, Public Relations and Marketing Co. advanced 1.57 percent and 1.13 percent, respectively.
Losses were led by Al Masar Al Shamil Education Co., which tumbled 8.36 percent to SR24.65. Raoom Trading Co.fell 6.75 percent to SR64.20, while Alkhaleej Training and Education Co. dropped 6.60 percent to SR18.12 and Naqi Water Co. declined 5.51 percent to SR54.00. Gulf General Cooperative Insurance Co. closed 5.44 percent lower at SR3.65.
On the announcement front, Chubb Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co. signed a multiyear insurance agreement with Saudi Electricity Co. to provide various coverages, expected to positively impact its financial results over the 2025–2026 period. The deal will run for three years and two months and is within the company’s normal course of business.
Meanwhile, Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance Co. announced a one-year health insurance contract with Saudi National Bank, valued at SR330.2 million, covering the bank’s employees and their families from January 2026. Despite the sizable contract, Bupa Arabia shares fell 0.8 percent to close at SR137, weighed down by the broader market weakness.
In contrast, United Cooperative Assurance Co. revealed an extension of its engineering insurance agreement with Saudi Binladin Group for the Grand Mosque expansion in Makkah. The contract value exceeds 20 percent of the company’s gross written premiums based on its latest audited financials and is expected to support results through 2026. However, the stock came under selling pressure, ending the session down 4.51 percent at SR3.39.
