Oil prices have edged-down after President Donald Trump ‘claimed victory’ in a tight American election, despite state election officials still counting votes and a final result ‘not expected for days’.
Brent crude futures were down by $0.08 to $39.63 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell by $0.15 to $37.51, Reuters reported.
According to the news agency, Trump ‘falsely claimed to have won’ after his Democratic challenger Joe Biden said he was ‘confident of winning a contest that will not be resolved’ until some states complete vote-counting in the near term.
Probis Group Sydney chief investment officer Jonathan Barratt was quoted by the news agency as stating: “There’s a lot of volatility across the board.
“Oil is running on a bit of thin air up here and you will find that sense will prevail and prices will come back to the median. We are still in a range.”
Meanwhile, data released by industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a decline in the US crude oil stockpiles and a rise in gasoline inventories.
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By GlobalDataAccording to the API data, crude stockpiles fell by eight million barrels to about 487 million.
More lockdown restrictions could cap oil price gains as Italy, Norway and Hungary ‘tightened virus curbs’, following the UK and France.
Energy Aspects Singapore oil analyst Virendra Chauhan stated: “Politics aside, there are European demand uncertainties, given the broader extensions of lockdowns.”
Supporting oil prices, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member Algeria supported the ‘deferral of a planned increase in OPEC+ oil output from January’.
The OPEC, and allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, is cutting production by about 7.7Mbpd to support prices.
The group intends to ramp up output by 2Mbpd from January next year.
A policy meeting is expected to be scheduled by the OPEC+ over 30 November and 1 December.