Oil prices fell more than 2% on Friday as Saudi Arabia and Russia said they were ready to ease supply curbs that pushed crude prices to their highest since 2014.
Review meet
The energy ministers of the two major producers met in the Russian city of St. Petersburg to review the terms of the global oil supply pact that has been in place for 17 months, ahead of a key OPEC meeting in Vienna next month.
The Ministers, along with their counterpart from the UAE, discussed an output increase of about 1 million barrels per day (bpd), sources told Reuters .
Brent crude futures were down $1.77 at $77.02 a barrel, having hit their highest since late 2014 at $80.50 this month.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $68.84 a barrel, down $1.87.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a group of non-OPEC producers led by Russia started withholding output in 2017 to tighten the market and prop up prices.
OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said the idea of increasing output came following a critical tweet from the United States President Donald Trump, who said last month that OPEC had ”artificially” boosted oil prices.
