INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Oil prices slumped to 2018 lows on Friday in choppy trading, pulled down an emerging crude supply overhang amid a bleak economic outlook.The
fall came even as markets expect the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to start withholding supply after a meeting
recovering to $61.88 by 0622 GMT
That was still 72 cents, or 1.2 per cent below their last close.U.S
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slumped by 2.5 per cent, to $53.29 a barrel, after coming within 5 cents of an October 2017 low
reached earlier in the week.Amid the plunge, Brent and WTI price volatility has jumped in November to approach levels not seen since the the
market slump of 2014-2016 and, before that, the financial crisis of 2008-2009.The divergence between U.S
and international crude comes as surging North American supply is clogging the system and depressing prices there, while global markets are
somewhat tighter, in part because of reduced exports from Iran due to newly imposed U.S
sanctions.Overall, however, global oil supply has surged this year, with the top-three producers - the United States, Russia and Saudi
Arabia - pumping more than a third of global consumption, which stands at around 100 million barrels per day (bpd)."The market is currently
investment bank Jefferies on Friday, adding that "an oversupplied market has a difficult time setting a (price) floor."High production comes
as the demand outlook weakens on the back of a global economic slowdown.Oil prices have plunged by around 30 per cent since their last peaks
in early October, as global production started to exceed consumption in the fourth quarter of this year, ending a period of undersupply that
started in the first quarter of 2017, according to data in Refinitiv Eikon.Adjusting to lower demand, top crude exporter Saudi Arabia said
on Thursday that it may reduce supply."We will not sell oil that customers don't need," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told
reporters.Saudi Arabia is pushing OPEC to cut oil supply by as much as 1.4 million bpd to prevent a supply glut.The group officially meets
6 to discuss its supply policy.U.S
bank Morgan Stanley said it saw "a far greater probability that OPEC reaches an agreement to balance the market in 2019" than not, adding
that this would likely support oil prices "in the high-$50s, at least near term."
