SINGAPORE: Oil prices slipped in early Asian trade on Tuesday amid uncertainty over a possible extension of output cuts by major crude producers and expectations of higher supply as the Keystone pipeline restarts.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down 24 cents at $57.87 a barrel at 0117 GMT, after falling 1.4 per cent in the previous session.
US crude touched $59.05 a barrel on Friday, the highest level since mid-2015, fuelled by the outage of the Keystone pipeline, one of Canada’s main crude export routes to the United States.
But TransCanada Corp this week said it would restart the 590,000 barrel-per-day pipeline at reduced pressure later on Tuesday after getting approval from US regulators.
Brent futures fell to $63.73 a barrel, down 11 cents from the previous close.
Uncertainty over Russia’s determination to join with other major oil producers in extending crude production curbs beyond next March has weighed on oil markets.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other key producers, including Russia, will meet on November 30 to discuss whether to continue with the cuts after they agreed last January to withhold 1.8 million bpd of output. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
