Brent Crude Oil Price Drops Below $86 Per Barrel First Time Since September 28

Brent crude oil price fell below $86 a barrel for the first time since September 28 as oil prices go down worldwide, according to data from the London-based ICE exchange

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2022) Brent crude oil price fell below $86 a barrel for the first time since September 28 as oil prices go down worldwide, according to data from the London-based ICE exchange.

As of 15:12 GMT, the price of December futures for Brent crude oil was down 3.57% to $86.57 per barrel, while December futures on the New York-traded West Texas Intermediate (WTI) were also down by 3.57% to $78.72. Earlier on Friday, Brent dropped by over 4% to $85.81 per barrel for the first time since September 28.

The drop in both benchmarks came despite sharp cuts in oil production enforced from this month by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, who are jointly known as OPEC+.

OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia with assistance from Russia, said the 23 nations in its coalition would impose a 2 million barrels per day production cut from this month, the most in two years since oil prices began recovering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

OPEC+ said the decision was made to offset constant worries about oil demand that had crept up in recent months as global economies sent off recession signals from runaway inflation.

Crude prices hit 14-year high in March, with Brent just shy of $140 and WTI tipping just over $130. By September, though, Brent had fallen to around $82 and WTI to around $76.

The OPEC-ordered production cuts helped Brent to recover to within cents of $100 a barrel two weeks ago, while WTI reached above $93.

But COVID-19 headlines out of China killed the rebound, driving both benchmarks lower. China's new COVID-19 case count rose above 23,000, reaching their highest levels since April. Fears are growing that the spike won't ease soon as cases have spread across the populous Chinese regions of Guangzhou and Chongqing, driving oil demand on Chinese and global market down.