By: Mahmoud Gamal
Mubasher: Oil prices fell from their one-month highs on Wednesday after news that Iran and Iraq were sceptic about the output reduction deal the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is seeking to reach next week.
By 03:45 GMT, international benchmark Brent crude futures for January delivery slipped 3 cents to $49.09 per barrel, having reached a one-month high of $49.12 pb on Tuesday.
Similarly, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil shed 4 cents to $47.99 pb.
Iran's and Iraq's hesitation to trim production is likely to be a hurdle to OPEC's historic deal of cutting output by around 1.2 million barrels per day (mbpd), commodity market analyst Ahmed Karam told Mubasher.
He added that these recent comments by the two countries is negatively affecting oil prices, pushing Brent crude towards the $46 pb mark once more.
OPEC members agreed in September to consider a deal that would include cutting output to around 32.5 to 33 mpbd.
On Tuesday, OPEC experts met in Vienna to discuss how to share the production cuts, while Iran and Iraq argued that they should be exempt from output reduction.
The current increased production from Libya and Nigeria, countries that will not be attending the 30 November meeting, along with Iraq's and Iran's plans not to partake in the deal reduces the chances of market-rebalancing agreement, Karam stated.
Investors await data by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) later today regarding US oil stockpiles.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
