Crude oil slips as Saudi, Venezuela meeting yields little
Crude oil prices eased in thin trade on Monday as a meeting between OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and Venezuela showed little indication that steps would be taken to boost prices.
Global benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 were down 8 cents at $34.98 at 4.32 a.m. ET. They fell 40 cents to $34.06 a barrel on Friday. US crude futures CLc1 fell by 23 cents to $30.66, after falling 83 cents to $30.89 on Friday.
Both contracts firmed slightly earlier in the session on Monday in see-saw trade on low volumes as many Asian markets were on holiday for the Lunar New Year.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi discussed cooperation between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other oil producers to stabilize the global oil market with his Venezuelan counterpart on Sunday, but there was no sign any agreement had been reached to hold an early meeting of suppliers.
"It was a successful meeting and (conducted) in a positive atmosphere," Saudi news agency SPA cited Naimi as saying.
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