RIYADH: Oil prices rose on Tuesday, after plunging to nine-month lows a day earlier, on indications that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, known as OPEC, may enact output cuts to avoid a further collapse in prices.
Brent crude futures for November settlement rose 65 cents, or 0.77 percent, to $84.71 per barrel by 0502 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for November delivery were up 64 cents at $77.35 per barrel.
OPEC monitoring oil prices, seeks market balance: Iraq oil minister
Iraq Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar on Monday said that the OPEC and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, are monitoring the oil price situation, wanting to have a balance in the markets.
“We don’t want a sharp increase in oil prices or a collapse,” he said in a televised interview on state TV.
“We entered a challenging period. Global factors led to the decrease [in oil prices], most importantly lower growth and higher inflation rates,” Abdul Jabbar said.
OPEC+, has this year ramped up oil output, looking to unwind record cuts put in place in 2020 after the pandemic slashed demand.
Qatar says inflationary pressures impacting oil and gas industry
Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs said on Monday that inflationary pressures have led to rising production costs, delays in investment decisions, and increased policy uncertainty in the oil and gas industry.
Minister Saad Al-Kaabi said in a statement the sector needs to help people recognize that demands to cancel hydrocarbons “are not only unrealistic but, as recent months have proven, are harmful to a realistic, accelerated transition.”
Kaabi said that hydrocarbons “are not going to disappear any time in the near future.” Therefore cleaner forms of hydrocarbons were essential for a responsible transition.
“Natural gas is certainly the cleanest fossil fuel, and a much-needed reliable and economic solution to manage intermittency issues, when the sun is not shining, or when the wind is not blowing,” he said.
(With input from Reuters)
