London — Oil prices slipped on Wednesday as doubts set in about Russia’s willingness to substantially extend a deal to curb output between some of the world’s biggest exporters, aimed at tackling global oversupply and bolstering prices. Brent crude futures were down 34c on the day at $63.27 a barrel by 9.48am GMT, while US light crude fell 31 cents to $57.68 a barrel. Oil prices have rallied by 40% since the middle of the year, supported by a deal between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other major exporters, such as Russia, to reduce crude oil production by 1.8-million barrels a day. The deal expires in March 2018 but is widely expected to be extended at Opec’s next meeting on November 30. But the length of the extension remains an open question and this has kept the market on its toes. "Tomorrow’s long-awaited meeting was meant to be a formality…. This narrative has, however, not gone according to the script," said Stephen Brennock, analyst at brok...
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