© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows oil tanks of Transneft oil pipeline operator at the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo
By Laura Sanicola
(Reuters) – Oil prices fell in early Asian trade on Friday, extended losses after OPEC+ producers agreed to voluntary oil output cuts for the first quarter next year that fell short of market expectations.
futures for February fell 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $80.72 a barrel by 0005 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $75.84.
Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+, who pump more than 40% of the world’s oil, agreed to voluntary output cuts of about 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024.
At least 1.3 million bpd of those cuts, however, were an extension of voluntary curbs that Saudi Arabia and Russia already had in place. Earlier, delegates had said new additional cuts under discussion were as much as 2 million bpd.
OPEC+’s output of some 43 million bpd already reflects cuts of about 5 million bpd aimed at supporting prices and stabilising the market.
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