Oil plunges after Saudi energy minister reportedly says OPEC is in 'produce as much as you can mode'

pulse

October 23, 2018 5:56 PM

Saudi Arabia's energy minister said Tuesday that OPEC is in "produce as much as you can mode." Both WTI and Brent were down almost 5%.

Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih (R) sits next to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as he addresses a news conference after an OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria.

West Texas Intermediate
WTI
Brent

Crude oil was under pressure Tuesday after Saudi Arabia's energy minister said OPEC is pumping out as much as possible.

Speaking at a global investment conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said OPEC and its allies are in "produce as much as you can mode," according to Bloomberg.

His comments immediately put pressure on oil prices, which were already down about 2%. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, extended its decline to 4.5%, or $76.30 a barrel, around midday. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, was down 4.7% to just above $66 — its lowest level in two months.

The oil market had already been under pressure in October, along with the stocks, as trade tensions and concerns over rising interest rates weighed.

Last week, WTI fell below the $70 mark for the first time in a month, after the Energy Information Agency reported a larger than expected rise in US inventories. The buildup — at 6.5 million barrels — was twice what analysts were looking for and was the largest in four months.

And on Monday, the Russian news agency TASS reported that Saudi Arabia said it wouldn't respond to sanctions with a 1973-style oil embargo on Western consumers. There were some concerns the kingdom could use oil as a "weapon" if sanctions were imposed on it by the US and its allies as a result of the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

WTI was up 9.75% this year and Brent was higher by 14.24%, including Tuesday's losses.

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