Brent falls close to $69 after Saudi price cut | Reuters.
(Reuters) – Brent crude fell close to $69 a barrel on Friday, putting it on track for a second weekly decline, as cuts to official selling prices from Saudi Arabia reverberated across the market.
Some analysts said the Saudi cuts to monthly prices for crude it sells to the United States and Asia show it is stepping up its battle for market share a week after refusing to support OPEC output cuts.
“It’s been weighing on the market, showing that OPEC is not ready to end its price war,” said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg. “The lower the better seems to be the new paradigm for OPEC.”
The January Brent crude contract LCOc1 dropped 53 cents to $69.11 a barrel by 0926 GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 was down 55 cents at $66.26.
A strong dollar, which recently hit two-year highs versus the euro, is another bearish factor for oil prices, as its strength makes dollar-denominated crude more expensive in other currencies.
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