Crude oil prices have seen major movements over the past seven days. WTI crude oil began last week at USD $46.02 and reached USD $47.12 on Wednesday, its highest level in more than a month. Prices then dropped to end the week at USD $45.77, which represents a weekly loss of 0.5%.
U.S. Crude Oil Inventories dropped by 4.7 million barrels (versus the analysts’ consensus of a decline of 3.5 million) and the Baker Hughes Rig Count showed a loss of two platforms, bringing the U.S. active platform total to 950.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in St. Petersburg was eagerly awaited this weekend, as members of the oil cartel had the opportunity to discuss and modify the level of production cuts. According to a statement, Monday’s meeting succeeded in obtaining Nigeria’s agreement to join the supply cuts once its output returns to 1.8 million barrels a day. Libya and Nigeria had been exempted from the Vienna agreement due to active geopolitical conflicts in those countries.
In the end, OPEC’s agreement saw few changes. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih admitted that the cuts had not had the hoped-for effect and stated that his country would reduce its output for August by 1 million barrels per day, bringing it down to 6.6 million barrels per day. The agreement is currently 98% in force, which has allowed supply to be reduced by a total of more than 350 million barrels