Oil worries

The conference will come just a day after a meeting of ministers from Opec (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and Russia in Abu Dhabi, and as crude oil prices sink into bear territory (dropping over 20 per cent from their highs).

The decline in oil prices is amid record production from the US as well as sanction exemptions granted to eight countries to continue importing oil from Iran. Brent oil prices were trading at just over $70 a barrel on Friday, down from their October peak of $86.3.

In a report last week, the Institute of International Finance said Brent oil prices could drop below $70 due to oversupply in the market. This was after the US Energy Information Administration raised its crude output forecast for America for 2019 by 300,000 barrels a day to over 12 million barrels a day while cutting global demand growth.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said in a note he maintained a view that crude oil “eventually will settle into a $70 to $80 a barrel range.”

“Opec and Russia may use cuts to support $70 a barrel while the US administration could potentially use some flexibility on its waivers (to countries importing from Iran) to prevent the price from breaking above $80,” he said.

Hansen added that the selling activity may require more than just verbal intervention from Opec, adding that in the short term, the risk is for the market to overshoot to the downside.