Crude oil futures settled lower on Monday as traders awaited news from a closed-door OPEC meeting in Vienna, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
September West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell by $1.14, or about 2.4%, to settle at $47.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ahead of its expiration at Tuesday’s settlement.
October Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell $1.06, or 2%, to end trading at $51.66 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
OPEC was scheduled to hold a technical meeting with non-cartel members in Vienna on Monday to discuss compliance levels with the cartel’s production cut deal. There was no update from the closed-door meeting before the settlements.
OPEC and 10 producers outside the cartel — including Russia — agreed late last year to cap production at around 1.8 million barrels a day lower than the peak levels from October 2016. The goal was to reduce the global oil glut and boosting prices. The deal was later extended through March of 2018. OPEC compliance with the agreement fell to 75% in July, its lowest level this year, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest monthly report.
Back on the New York Mercantile Exchange, September natural gas ended 2.4% higher at $2.962 per million British thermal units, after losing around 3% last week.