Futures were little changed in London after rising Monday for the third time in four days. Iraq’s prime minister pledged a swift takeover of the city of Ramadi from Islamic State militants, while in Saudi Arabia, King Salman vowed to punish those responsible for a suicide attack on Shiite worshipers. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain its output quota at a June 5 meeting, a Bloomberg survey shows.
Oil’s recovery from a six-year low in January is stalling this month amid speculation a global glut will persist. OPEC, which pumps 40 percent of the world’s crude, is seen sticking with its strategy of favoring market share over supporting prices, while U.S. supply remains near a record even as the nation’s rig count shrinks.
“The market is getting a bit jittery with the OPEC meeting coming up, which will probably be no change to the output ceiling,” David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone. “If the oil price does rally, we’ll probably see U.S. domestic production come back on stream and we’ll go through the whole cycle again.”
Brent for July settlement was at $65.45 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, down 7 cents, at 11:46 a.m. Sydney time. The contract climbed 15 cents to $65.52 on Monday. Total volume was about 82 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.73 to West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. marker grade.
WTI for July delivery was at $59.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 5 cents from the close of May 22. There was no floor session Monday because of the Memorial Day holiday, and transactions will be booked Tuesday for settlement purposes. Prices have increased 12 percent this year.
