Oil Markets Stay Volatile Ahead Of OPEC Meeting

Tuesday,   19-Jun-2018   03:39 PM (IST)

Crude oil markets remained volatile as energy investors weighed potential outcomes for a meeting of major crude producers later this week.Oil ministers from OPEC, Russia and other major producing countries will meet in Vienna on Thursday and Friday to review their current production agreement that has held back 1.8 million bpd from the market for the past 18 months.OPEC's de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, and non-member Russia have proposed relaxing production cuts gradually, while OPEC members Iran, Iraq, Venezuela and Algeria have opposed such a move.New York-traded WTI crude futures shed 85 cents, or 1.3%, to $64.84 per barrel, while Brent futures declined 40 cents, or 0.6%, $74.95 per barrel.Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report on U.S. commercial crude inventories at 4:30PM ET, amid forecasts for an oil-stock decline of 2.6 million barrels.