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SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose lower on Monday, the first day of 2021, ahead of a meeting of OPEC and related producers to discuss production levels for February, fearing demand would enter the market in the first half while the coronavirus pandemic persists.
Brent crude for March was $ 51.76 a barrel, 4 cents or 0.08% lower, at 0038 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for February fell 9 cents or 0.2% to $ 48 , 43 per barrel.
Mohammad Barkindo, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Sunday that although demand for crude oil is expected to rise by 5.9 million barrels per day (bpd) to 95.9 million bpd this year, see the group to claim many disadvantages risks in the first half of 2021.
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“We are only just beginning to emerge from a year of deep investment cuts, huge job losses and the worst destruction of crude oil recorded,” he said.
Oil prices rose lower on Monday, the first day of 2021, ahead of a meeting of OPEC and related producers to discuss production levels for February, fearing market demand would fall in the first half if the coronavirus pandemic continues. Photo (Jason Alden / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Prices will end in 2020 by about 20% below the 2019 average, and are still recovering from the impact of global economic closure measures put in place to combat COVID-19, which is reducing fuel demand, although the largest producers in the world by the year agreed with record outputs.
OPEC and related producers, including Russia, a group known as OPEC +, decided at a meeting last month to increase production by 500,000 barrels per day in January, with the expectation of an increase in demand, and agreed to meet every month to review the production.
Analysts from Energy Aspects and RBC Capital said OPEC + is likely to maintain production levels from January to February.
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“We think the producer group will decide to forgo further production increases for February with COVID-19 cases continuing to climb and the delayed vaccination of the vaccine,” said Helima Croft, RBC Capital.
In the United States, crude oil production remained under pressure due to weak prices and lukewarm demand, in October more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd), earlier this year, a government report showed on 1 January.