WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday after moving higher early on in the session, amid concerns that several leading oil producers will likely increase output following disagreement over output policy.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their major allies failed to reach an agreement on output levels. The meeting, which was originally scheduled to happen last Thursday, first got postponed and then was abandoned altogether this Monday with no decision on production levels, after the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia fell out with the former refusing to agree to a proposal backed by the latter.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $1.17 or about 1.6% at $72.20 a barrel, after hitting a high of $74.86 a barrel early on in the session.
Brent crude futures were down $1.25 or 1.7% at $73.28 a barrel a little while ago.
Traders now look ahead to weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The API's report is due later today, while EIA is scheduled to release its data Thursday morning.
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