Oil prices have wiped out their recent gains after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and its allies agreed to boost production starting January.
- Global prices declined posted steep declines after the development, with the West Texas Intermediate down by as much as 4.8% in New York. The commodity has seen a 20% decline since late October.
- The plunge comes after Russia proposed a plan to increase output by 400,000 barrels a day with a draft communique set for such volumes, contrary to expectations of the market.
- The OPEC+ has also been expected to defer a planned slight increase in output, given concerns involving the Omicron variant. This has dragged prices into a bear market in recent days, underscoring the risk to demand.
The number of Omicron variant cases of COVID-19 has doubled from Tuesday, with the first infection detected in the United States.
WTI is down 1.08%, Brent down 1.28%, and Crude Oil down 1.97%.
Source: Bloomberg
