Oil retreats below $47 as OPEC said to stay split on output deal

Oil retreated back below $47 after Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) officials failed Monday to work out a compromise on a deal to cut production and boost crude prices. Futures lost as much as 0.9 per cent in New York. After a 10-hour technical meeting focused on how best to divide reductions among member countries, Iraq and Iran continued to express objections. Prices are paring Monday’s 2.2-per cent jump, which was fuelled by Iraq oil minister Jabbar al-Luaibi’s earlier comments that he was optimistic a deal will be reached The discord comes after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said Sunday producers don’t necessarily need to curb output and that global demand will recover next year, raising the prospect the kingdom may leave Vienna without an agreement. Ministers from OPEC are scheduled to formally meet Wednesday in the Austrian capital. A proposed pact would trim output by 1.2 million barrels a day from October levels. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery dropped as much as 41 cents to $46.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $46.92 at 10:04 am in Seoul. Prices Monday rose $1.02 to $47.08 a barrel. Total volume traded was 56 per cent below the 100-day average. Brent for January settlement, which expires Wednesday, lost 14 cents to $48.10 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract advanced $1, or 2.1 per cent, to $48.24 a barrel on Monday. The more-active February futures declined 21 cents to $49. The global benchmark traded at a $1.23 premium to WTI. (Heesu Lee and Perry Williams/Bloomberg)