Oil market stabilizing: Saudi energy minister

11/07/2016 05:10 AST

Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Sunday the oil market was becoming more balanced and prices were stabilizing. Al-Falih said Saudi Arabia would always strive to stabilize the oil market, a statement by the energy ministry added.

“In doing so, the Kingdom secures the flow of oil supplies as it retains a spare production capacity,” the minister, attending a climate meeting in Berlin, was quoted as saying in the statement.

His remarks echo earlier comments made on Monday by the Saudi minister in Dhahran at a meeting with newly appointed OPEC secretary general, Mohammed Barkindo. Crude prices inched up in choppy trading on Friday but Brent notched its largest weekly drop in nearly six months.

Brent crude futures ended the session up 36 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $46.76 per barrel, after trading between $47.23 and $46.15.

US crude’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled up 27 cents at $45.41, compared with an earlier drop to $44.77 and a high of $45.97.

Both benchmarks were down nearly 8 percent for the week — the largest weekly slide for Brent since January and the biggest weekly drop for WTI since February.

Crude futures remain some 75 percent above 12-year lows of $27 for Brent and $26 for WTI hit in the first quarter.

But the market has gyrated since hitting above $50 as a glut of refined products replaced worries about crude oversupply that caused a near two-year long tumble earlier.

Futures hit two-month lows on Thursday, with WTI breaking below key support of $45.83 after weekly drawdowns in US crude looked inadequate to assuage investor concerns.

Arab News