SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell by around 1 per cent on Tuesday, with Brent crude slipping below $70 per barrel and WTI below $60, after US President Donald Trump put pressure on Opec not to cut supply to prop up the market.
The fall also came as the US-dollar hovered near 16-month highs on Tuesday, making oil imports more expensive for any country using other currencies at home.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $59.22 per barrel at 0740 GMT, down 70 cents, or 1.2 per cent from their last settlement.
International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were at $69.41 per barrel, down 71 cents, or 1 per cent, from their last close.
Both oil price benchmarks have shed more than 20 per cent in value since early October.
“Sky-high production in the US, coupled with incremental barrels coming from Saudi Arabia and Russia is starting to impact oil market balances. As such, crude oil inventories are starting to increase once again,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note.
The bank added that it expected US crude production, already at a record 11.6 million barrels per day (bpd), to break through 12 million bpd in 2019, making the United States “energy independent”. — Reuters
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