Oil prices retreated on Wednesday as volatile trading continued on the energy market amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July delivery decreased 1.54 U.S. dollars to settle at 32.81 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery fell 1.43 dollars to close at 34.74 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The moves followed solid gains in the previous session with the WTI and Brent crude up 3.3 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
"The market is likely in the near future to be focusing its attention on the 'OPEC+' meeting on 9 and 10 June," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Wednesday.
"As yet, the positions of the two leading participants differ considerably: Saudi Arabia wants to leave the cuts that apply in May and June in place for the time being, whereas Russia would ideally like to begin gradually stepping up production again from July, as previously planned," he said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to slash output by 9.7 million barrels per day for May and June as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged demand.
Editor:Cherie
