Oil edges up as Vienna meeting looms

Oil prices went up slightly on Friday as non-OPEC producers were set to meet in Vienna over the weekend to hammer out the details of an agreement to cut production some 600,000 bopd next year.

February Brent futures were at USD 54.27 in the mid-afternoon in Europe, slightly lower than Monday’s peaks of more than USD 55 a barrel after OPEC struck a long-anticipated deal to cut some 1.2 million bopd last week.

Russia, which is expected to contribute about half of the non-OPEC cuts, was to hold talks with other non-OPEC countries on Friday, Reuters reported.

US shale producers are expected to be the wild card in the markets over the next year as oil prices of around USD 50 or higher would likely result in increased production from the US, which could offset the cuts from other producers.

“It’s going to be a cat-and-mouse game between OPEC and shale oil in America,” Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of Glencore, told Reuters.

“OPEC members will say, ‘if you [raise output], we are going to ramp up production and push oil back down to USD 35.’”