SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices dropped on Monday as China’s release of gasoline and diesel reserves eased concerns over tight global supply.
Brent crude futures fell 16 cents to $83.56 a barrel by 0524 GMT, after gaining 6 cents on Friday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid 29 cents to $83.28 per barrel, risen 76 cents on Friday.
The drops came after China said in a rare official statement that it had released reserves of the two fuels to increase market supply and support price stability in some regions, according to Reuters.
“Behind the selling was China’s release of fuels reserves, which reflected Beijing’s intention to stabilize oil prices, just like coal prices,” Reuters quoted chief analyst at Sunward Trading Chiyoki Chen as saying.
“Also, investors took profits ahead of an OPEC+ meeting,” Chen added.
All eyes are on the Nov. meeting of the OPEC+, including OPEC, Russia and their allies, with analysts expecting them to stick to a plan to add 400,000 barrels per day of supply in December.
Oil prices rallied to multi-year highs last week, helped by the decision by OEPC+ to maintain its planned output increase rather than raising it on global supply concerns.
