Oil Down 3% As Saudi, Iran Dash Hopes For An Algiers Deal

Reuters

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Oil fell about 3 percent on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia and Iran dashed market hopes that the two major OPEC producers would find a compromise this week at meeting in Algiers to help ease a global glut of crude.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters in the Algerian capital, where OPEC and other oil producers gathered for the Sept. 26-28 International Energy Forum, he did not expect an agreement to come out of the consultations on the last day of the meet.

He also said he did not think there was a need to significantly adjust or cut supply and that Iran, Libya and Nigeria should be allowed to produce at maximum levels seen in recent history.

"If you were looking for something dangerous from this meeting, this was it," said Jim Williams, analyst at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas. "Instead of cutting, they're telling everybody to substantially increase supply."

Iran, which has been trying to recapture oil exports lost to sanctions, rejected a Saudi offer to limit its output in exchange for reduced supply by Riyadh.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the Algiers talks "is not the time for decision-making."

He referred instead to OPEC's formal policy meeting set for Nov. 30 in Vienna, saying: "We will try to reach agreement for November."

The Algiers talks were OPEC's second attempt at an output agreement after a failed round in Qatar in April.

Crude oil futures gave back much of what they gained in the previous session on hopes for a deal.

Brent crude settled down $1.38, or 2.9 percent, at $45.97 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.26, or 2.7 percent, to $44.67.

Oil prices have slid to less than half their 2014 highs, pushing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to seek a market rebalancing that would lift the oil revenues they rely on for their national budgets.

OPEC member Iraq said it has based its 2017 budget on the assumption it export 3.75 million barrels per day at $42 a barrel.

Goldman Sachs cut its price forecast for WTI in the fourth quarter to $43, from an earlier $45-$50 range, saying it expects supply to exceed demand by 400,000 bpd.

The market will be on the lookout for data on U.S. oil inventories at 4:30 p.m. EDT(2030 GMT) from the American Petroleum Institute, and for the government's report on Wednesday morning.

A Reuters poll forecast that crude stocks rose 3 million barrels last week, ending three weeks of unexpected drawdowns.

(Additional reporting by Libby George and Swetha Gopinath in London and Keith Wallis in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)

Copyright 2016 Thomson Reuters.



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