Oil InsightAfter rallying about 15 per cent in August, momentum in ICE Brent and Nymex WTI (West Texas Intermediate) prices slowed down fleetingly before hitting choppy weather in September, spiking more than 6 per cent when the Opec production-cut deal was announced. Saudi Arabia offered a day before the talks an initial production-freeze proposal that would exempt Iran, Nigeria and Libya as special cases. Without Iran's nod of approval, no deal would be viable.The idea of a production cut of any kind in today's oversupplied environment was tantalising to investors. Now, however, the question of relevance arises.According to Platts estimates, Opec pumped a total of 33.13mmbd in August and aims to curb production under the new agreement within a range of 32.5-33mmbd. The meagre cutback in the short term does not make the move insignificant.

Source: The Nation Bangkok October 07, 2016 18:11 UTC