Crude prices mixed on OPEC news, price levels

Crude oil prices were mixed on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said there was no need for an emergency meeting by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to deal with the falling price of oil. He said, among other things, that OPEC’s spare production capacity was currently at 3 million barrels per day.

A rise in the price of March contracts for Brent crude were laid to prices that were below what has been anticipated rather than to any concern about what OPEC might do. Brent added 18 cents to $51.80 per barrel late in the day in London. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was 10 cents lower early in the afternoon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, to $51.12 per barrel after having dropped as low as $50.28 per barrel earlier in the session.

In the metals markets on Wednesday, gold was better than $8 higher as it traded at $633.20/$633.95 per troy ounce. Base metals prices were again mixed, with nickel and copper both higher but three-month aluminium $4 lower to $2,677 per tonne. Three-month copper added $40 to $5,640 per tonne, while nickel added close to $2,000 to $35,550 late in the day after hitting a record $35,700 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange earlier in the session.

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