Brent crude falls another $1.75 per barrel

Further declines in oil prices have caused speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could call for further production cuts in an attempt to hold prices in the mid-$50 per barrel range. Still, at the present time there is no emergency meeting scheduled despite concerns, according to OPEC’s president. The oil cartel is slated to meet again in March, while a second previously-mandated production cut of 500,000 barrels per day is to go into effect on 1 February.

Amid active trading, Brent crude for February delivery dropped $1.75 to $51.94 per barrel by the end of the session after going as low as $51.87 per barrel earlier in the day. Brent is now down nearly 15 percent since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile West Texas Intermediate crude February contracts was down $1.91 by early afternoon on the New York mercantile exchange to $52.11 per barrel.

In the metals markets on Thursday gold added close to $4, to $613.70/$614.45 per troy ounce. The gains came even though the dollar strengthened during the day. Most base metals prices were also up, the exception being copper, which dropped $40 to $5,837 per tonne. Three-month nickel added $1,950 late in the session to $33,450 per tonne; it was as high as $34,900 at one point in the trading day. Zinc was $135 higher to $3,875 per tonne, while aluminium gained $35 to $2,745 per tonne.

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