Oil prices reversed gains to trade down on Monday on concerns that the cutting of ties with Qatar by top crude exporter Saudi Arabia and other Arab states could hamper a global deal to reduce oil production. The move pushed Brent crude prices up as much as 1 percent, before paring gains to trade down 30 cents at $49.65 a barrel at 1046 GMT (6:46 a.m. There are already doubts the effort to curb production by almost 1.8 million bpd is seriously denting exports. While there was a dip in OPEC supplies between February and April, a report on Monday by Thomson Reuters Oil Research said OPEC shipments likely jumped to 25.18 million bpd in May, up over 1 million bpd from April. “Investors continue to doubt the ability of OPEC to rebalance the oil market, with crude oil prices remaining under pressure amid further signs of rising US oil production,” ANZ bank said.

Source: Egypt Independent June 05, 2017 13:04 UTC