Crude oil falls on conflicting OPEC+, Russia messages amid stronger dollar
Oil prices softened in early trade on Friday, weighed on by conflicting messages from Russia and Saudi Arabia ahead of the next OPEC+ policy meeting and a stronger dollar. Brent crude fell 30 cents to $75.96 a barrel at 0315 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down by 14 cents at $71.69 a barrel.
Benchmarks settled more than $2 per barrel lower on Thursday, after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak played down the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts at its meeting in Vienna on June 4. Both prices however were still poised to post a second week of gains of slightly less than 1%.
“Crude prices are weakening as king dollar returns and after Russia slashes any Saudi hope of delivering another production cut at the June 4 meeting,” said senior market analyst Edward Moya.
