2023.12.0519:12:00UTC+00Oil Futures Settle At 5-month Low

Oil prices dropped on Tuesday, losing for a fourth straight session, amid lingering concerns about the outlook for energy demand, and on disappointment over the quantum of additional output cut announced by OPEC+.

A firm dollar weighed as well on oil prices. Also, investors looked ahead to the non-farm payroll data, due later in the week, for clues about the outlook for Fed's interest rate moves.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $0.72 or about 1% at $72.32 a barrel, the lowest settlement since July 6.

Brent crude futures were down $0.62 or about 0.8% at $77.41 a barrel a little while ago.

"The timely actions of OPEC+, thanks to which about 2.2 million barrels per day will be held off the market in the first quarter of next year, will allow the period of low demand to pass painlessly in the first quarter of 2024," Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reportedly said on Tuesday.

"I would also like to note that if the current actions are not enough, OPEC+ countries are ready to take additional actions to eliminate speculation and volatility," Novak added.

Investors now await weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API), due later today, and the Energy Information Administration (EIA), due out Wednesday morning.

The EIA data is expected to show a reduction of 2.3 million barrels for the week ended December 2nd, as compared with the addition of 1.6 million barrels in the previous week.