Futures Pros – Crude oil futures fell for the first time in four days on Monday, after the world’s largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia said the global market had more than ample supplies of crude.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at USD109.55 a barrel during European morning trade, slumping 0.45%.
It earlier fell to a daily low of USD109.33 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Sunday that the global oil market was “overbalanced” and that surging oil prices were “out of the hands of OPEC”.
Speaking at industry conference in Kuwait, al-Naimi said that Saudi Arabia cut its daily oil output by around 800,000 barrels in March to 8.29 million barrels per day, due to poor demand.
His comments follow similar remarks made by United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Mohamed al-Hamli last week, who said that world oil markets remained “adequately supplied” and that “the surge in oil prices is a reflection of geopolitics but not the fundamentals.”
Receding concerns over election-related violence in Nigeria also weighed on prices. Media reports following the Saturday election said incumbent Goodluck Jonathan was likely to win reelection, with CNN reporting the vote was “largely peaceful.”
Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter among OPEC members, while Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, producing nearly 2.2 million barrels per day.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery shed 0.53% to trade at USD123.00 a barrel, up USD13.45 on its U.S. counterpart.
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