Oil slides as OPEC+ delays decision on output cuts | Reuters

Oil slides as OPEC+ delays decision on output cuts | Reuters

Oil prices extended losses to a second day on Tuesday after OPEC and its allies left markets in limbo by postponing a formal meeting to decide whether to lift output come January.

Brent crude ended the session down 46 cents, or 1%, at $47.42 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled down 79 cents, or 1.7%, at $44.55.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other allies, a group known as OPEC+, delayed talks on next year’s output policy to Thursday from Tuesday, sources said.

OPEC+ had been expected to ease current production cuts of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2 million bpd from January.

However, the group has been considering extending existing cuts of about 8% of global demand into the first months of 2021, a position backed by de facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, sources say. Russia, meanwhile, backs a gradual increase.