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Oil prices little changed as Saudi cuts prices, OPEC+ boosts target

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NEW YORK, July 6 : Oil prices were little changed on Monday, trading around pre-Iran war levels as Saudi Arabia slashed its official selling prices, OPEC+ approved another production target increase starting in August, and exports through the Strait of Hormuz recovered further.          

Brent crude futures, which hit a four-year high above $126 in late April, were trading at $72.19 a barrel at 11:26 a.m. ET (1626 GMT), up 7 cents, or 0.1 per cent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $68.81 a barrel, up 12 cents, or 0.2 per cent.

There was no settlement for WTI on Friday as U.S. markets were closed for a public holiday.

Both contracts were little changed last week after mostly falling over the past month back to levels last seen in late February, prior to the start of the war that severely disrupted global energy flows.

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“The downward move is still influenced by earlier stranded tankers managing to exit the Gulf, resulting in an increase in oil on water,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

Investors kept a close eye on talks between the U.S. and Iran over the fate of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz while keeping tabs on the recovery in Gulf oil exports.

The United Arab Emirates raised its crude output to near record highs above 3.8 million barrels per day in June after it quit OPEC to escape production caps, two people familiar with production data said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia has set the official selling price for its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia in August at $1.50 a barrel below the Oman/Dubai average, marking the biggest monthly cut in the price since Reuters records began in 2003. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has also been selling crude through tenders at discounted prices, traders told Reuters.

“It is increasingly looking like the Gulf producers are gearing up for a price war,” said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures ⁠at Mizuho.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia agreed on Sunday to further increase output targets by 188,000 bpd from August, on top of similar increases for June and July. 

However, these increases have remained largely on paper because of the Iran war, which closed the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic for key OPEC producers, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, capping their output.

“They are selling into a falling market, offering little hope of an imminent price recovery,” said PVM analyst Tamas Varga. “However, lower oil prices will undoubtedly stimulate demand further down the line.” 

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s military said on Monday it struck Russia’s largest oil refinery in Omsk, as well as facilities in Yaroslavl and Leningrad regions overnight. 

Shipping groups Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will resume some sailings through the Suez Canal, which accounts for 10 per cent of global trade. The Asia-Europe trade corridor was abandoned by most shippers after attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthis during the Gaza war. Resuming sailings through this route will reduce the duration of the passage by four weeks, a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson said. 

Source: Reuters

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