Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
World oil prices are falling March 2 amid the report about the increase of US crude stockpiles.
The price of May futures for Brent crude oil has dropped by 0.37 percent to $56.15 per barrel as of 01:38 EST. Meanwhile, the price of April futures for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil has decreased by 0.46 percent and stood at $53.58 per barrel.
US commercial crude stockpiles (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) rose by 1.5 million barrels from the previous week and reached the record high at 520.2 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
On the other hand, the optimism on OPEC and non-OPEC output cuts are supporting the oil prices.
Earlier, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the volume of oil production in Russia in February will be lower than in January.
The production cut in February will be higher than 117,000 barrels per day in January, he explained.
Moreover, the data presented by Azerbaijan to OPEC for January showed that the daily oil output was 793,900 barrels in the country in January, 50,800 barrels of which accounted for condensate.
Azerbaijan fully fulfilled its commitments on reducing oil output by 35,000 barrels per day, said the country’s energy ministry.
During a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 30, 2016, OPEC members decided to implement a new production target of 32.5 million barrels per day. Later, non-OPEC countries agreed to cut the output by 558,000 barrels per day during the meeting held Dec. 10, 2016.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn