Oil prices slid to their lowest levels since April yesterday amid signs that production cartel Opec was planning to keep supply levels steady.
Opec members including Saudi Arabia and Iran are holding their regular six-monthly meeting in Vienna, with analysts expecting the organisation to maintain a production target of 29.673million barrels per day.
October Brent crude fell by $4.14 to $99.30 a barrel on London’s ICE commodities exchange, slipping below $100 for the first time since the beginning of April. The price later settled at $100.34, down $3.10.
Light, sweet crude traded on New York Mercantile Exchange also dropped to a level not seen since April, falling $3.08 to settle at $103.26.
Saudi Arabia, which accounts for around a third of Opec output, signalled before yesterday’s meeting that it was happy with the current oil situation. Oil minister Ali Naimi told reporters in Vienna: “The market is fairly well balanced. I think things are in balance, in a healthy position.”
But Iran’s oil chief, Gholam Hossein Nozari, suggested otherwise after telling the media: “We believe the market is oversupplied.”
Oil prices have fallen nearly 30% from the $147 high seen in July as projections of slower global economic growth have dampened demand.
Last month the International Energy Agency forecast that OECD oil demand would contract to 48.6million barrels per day this year and then fall to 48million next year.
Petrol prices on UK forecourts have not fallen as quickly, with average unleaded petrol down from July’s peak of 119.7p to 112.7p at the weekend – a drop of nearly 6%. Average diesel prices have fallen from 133.3p to 124.1p, just under 7%.
The AA said it took around four to six weeks for oil price changes to filter through to forecourt pumps.