OPEC+ put off meeting sending oil prices down

NEW YORK, Dec 1 (KUNA) -- The oil prices dropped Tuesday amid continued uncertainty after the OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries postponed their ministerial meeting.
The oil ministers of the OPEC+ group were scheduled to decide extention of the output cut deal yesterday.
The prices of the benchmark Brent crude contracted by 51 cents to USD 47.37 pb while the West Texas Intermediate priced shed 81 cents to USD 44.53 pb.
The prices had rebounded by 27 percent in November amid upbeat mood among traders at the prospects of economic recovery and increased demand on the oil market amid reports of finding a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
However, differences among the OPEC+ partners have apparently forced the postponement of their virtual two-day meeting until Thursday.
The ministers have yet to agree whether to extend the output cut by 7.7 mb/d for additional three months starting from January 2021, or bringing down the ceiling of the reduction to 5.8 mb/d.
A third option is to phase out the cut deal over three months instead of sudden unleashing of huge amounts of oil into the market. (end) asf.gb