Oil Heads for Third Monthly Decline as Dollar, OPEC+ Supply Weigh

Summary

Brent, WTI set to fall about 3.5% in October
OPEC+ lean towards modest output boost ahead of Sunday meeting, sources say
Saudi prices for Asian buyers might fall in Dec. -sources
China factory activity shrinks for seventh month, PMI shows

(Reuters) – Oil prices were heading for a third consecutive monthly decline, slipping on Friday due to a stronger U.S. dollar and weak China data as well as rising supply from major producers globally.

Brent crude futures were down 38 cents, or 0.6%, at $64.62 a barrel by 1008 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $60.19 a barrel, down 38 cents, or 0.6%.

Get the Latest US Focused Energy News Delivered to You! It’s FREE:

The U.S. dollar was near three-month highs against its major peers, making purchases of dollar-denominated commodities such as oil more expensive.

Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, may reduce its December crude price for Asian buyers to multi-month lows due to ample supplies, sources said, sounding a bearish note.

Oil also slipped after an official survey showed China’s factory activity shrank for a seventh month in October.

Both Brent and WTI are set to fall around 3.5% in October with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and major non-OPEC producers ramping up output to gain market share.

More supply will also cushion the impact of Western sanctions disrupting Russian oil exports to its top buyers China and India.

OPEC+ is leaning towards a modest output boost in December, people familiar with the talks said ahead of the group’s meeting on Sunday.

The eight OPEC+ members have boosted output targets by more than 2.7 million barrels per day – or about 2.5% of global supply – through a series of monthly increases.

Meanwhile, crude exports from top exporter Saudi Arabia hit a six-month high of 6.407 million bpd in August, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative showed.

A U.S. Energy Information Administration report also showed record production of 13.6 million bpd last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that China has agreed to begin the process of purchasing U.S. energy, adding that a very large-scale transaction may take place involving the purchase of oil and gas from Alaska.

However, analysts remained sceptical as to whether the U.S.-China trade deal will boost Chinese demand for U.S. energy.