Oil prices remain flat

3 November 2006

The price of Brent North Sea crude oil has remained flat today at $57.87 (£30.30) while US light sweet crude fell by six cents overnight to $57.88 per barrel.

Steady and falling prices come as Nigeria increases its oil production of around 47,000 barrels a day, Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday.

Attacks on oil facilities and industry workers in the country meant that one oil station had to remain closed.

The oil industry is still waiting to see whether the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) stands by its earlier decision to cut supplies by 1.2 million barrels per day.

According to Tobin Gorey of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, "the market remains sceptical that any more than half of the pledged cut will occur, leaving room for the market to be surprised either way", Reuters reports.

Mr Gorey added that warm weather in some places could reduce the demand for energy such as domestic heating oil and crude and that supplies were therefore likely to "remain comfortable".

However inventories from non-Opec member Russia have fallen for the second consecutive month, government data has shown.