Oman crude oil prices fell by 25% since June high of $111.18, slumping for the fourth month in a row this year.
Prices hit a fresh four-year low mid-October, before picking up slightly during the second half of the month.
Trading on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange DME Oman crude for December delivery settled at $83.58 per barrel on 31st of October – a fall of $12.31/bbl over the month. This is the largest monthly fall since May 2012 or 13%, when prices tumbled by more than $14 per barrel.
The monthly average price of the DME, used by Oman and Dubai to set their official selling price, was $86.96 per barrel, down $10.30 from an average of $97.26 for the November contract traded in September, and the lowest since November 2010, when the average was $83.40.
OPEC’s output in October dipped by just 120,000 bpd, with the downtick led by Angola and Nigeria. Overall OPEC’s production was still hovering 720,000 bpd above its 30mn bpd target, according to Reuters.
OPEC’s long awaited meeting to determine the oil prices will take place on 27th this month in Vienna.
However, there have been no indications so far that OPEC countries will curb production. This in turn could mean that prices could slump even further in future months.
