As Opec talks lead only to more talks, traders bet oil will fall further
New York — The growing list of Opec members seeking exemptions from a planned supply cut has investors seeing future price drops. Money managers increased bets on lower West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil for the first time in five weeks as Iraq joined Iran, Nigeria and Libya in seeking to be excluded from Opec’s first agreement to reduce output in eight years. The deal was reached in Algiers on September 28 and sent futures climbing. But internal disagreements over how to implement the cuts prevented an accord to secure the co-operation of other major suppliers this weekend in Vienna. Oil cartel Opec agreed in the Algerian capital in September to trim production to a range of 32.5-million to 33-million barrels a day, and is due to finalise the deal at a November 30 summit in Vienna. The accord helped push oil prices to a 15-month high above $50 a barrel earlier in October, although they have subsequently fallen amid doubts the group will follow through on its pledge. More than 18 hou...
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