Oil prices fell on the European market on Monday in early trading on the way to the first loss in five days, to drop US crude from the highest level in three and a half years, and Brent crude from the highest level in five weeks, with the activity of correction and profit taking, and retreat The prices are also driven by increased production in Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as US President Donald Trump’s comments on Saudi Arabia’s production.
By 10:47 GMT US crude is trading around $ 74.10 a barrel from the opening level $ 73.60, and recorded a high of $ 74.11, and a low of $ 72.56, and the level of closing on Friday at $ 74.27 per barrel.
Brent crude is trading around $ 78.65 per barrel from the opening level of $ 78.49, recording a high of $ 78.83, a low of $ 78.07 and a close of Friday at $ 79.21 per barrel.
US crude oil was up 1.4% on Friday, its fourth daily gain in a row, hitting a three-and-a-half-year high of $ 74.44 a barrel. Brent crude gained 2.3% and hit a five-week high of $ 79.54 per barrel .
Oil Chart
Oil prices rose 7.2% last week, their second consecutive weekly gain, and the biggest weekly gains since early April, as the United States began measures to limit oil supplies from Iran.
In June, US crude oil rose 10.7%, the third monthly gain in the last four months, and international crude oil Brent crude rose by 1.9%, the fourth monthly gain, respectively.
During the second quarter of this year, global oil prices rose an average of 14%, the fourth consecutive quarterly gain, and the biggest quarterly gain since the fourth quarter 2017, with strong signs of market equilibrium, as well as the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran agreement And the re-imposition of sanctions on Tehran, in conjunction with problems in the production of Venezuela and Libya.
According to Reuters Reuters preliminary survey showed Saudi Arabia’s production in June by 700 thousand barrels to a total of 10.7 million barrels per day.
In Russia, the Energy Ministry said on Monday that the country’s oil production rose to 11.06 million barrels in June from 10.97 million barrels in May.
US President Donald Rumsfeld said on Saturday Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud agreed to increase his country’s oil production by about 2 million barrels a day.
Later, the White House retracted Trump’s comments, saying the Saudi king said his country could increase oil production if necessary and that they had the capacity to produce an additional 2 million barrels per day.
Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, renewed his call for Riyadh to increase production to a new record to help his country cut fuel prices, while the United States backs Saudi Arabia in its struggle with Tehran.
In the United States, official data from Baker Hughes Oil Services showed a decrease in drilling and drilling platforms in the country last week by 4 platforms, the second weekly decline in a row, bringing the total platforms currently operating to 858 platforms.
Thanks to high drilling activities, US production has jumped more than 29% since mid-2016 to a total of 10.9 million barrels per day, surpassing Saudi Arabia’s high production in June to 10.7 million barrels per day and close to Russia’s world’s largest oil producer Million barrels per day.