Oil steadies near $66 as Russia touts easing OPEC+ output

FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind an oil pump outside Saint-Fiacre, near Paris, France - Reuters

London (Reuters): Oil was little changed on Monday, holding near a three-month high on optimism over a nearing US-China trade deal even as Russia said an OPEC-led pact may consider easing output cuts next year.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down 2 cents, or 0.03%, at $66.12 per barrel by 1410 GMT in thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 was down 5 cents, or 0.08%, at $60.39 a barrel.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other top producing nations led by Russia agreed this month to extend and deepen output cuts in the first quarter of 2020.

However, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday that the group known as OPEC+ may consider easing the output restrictions at their meeting in March.

“We can consider any options, including gradual easing of quotas, including continuation of the deal,” Novak told Russia’s RBC TV in an interview recorded last week, adding that Russia’s oil output was set to hit a record high this year.

Non-OPEC global supply is expected to rise next year due to higher output from countries including the United States, Brazil, Norway and Guyana, which became an oil producer last week.

Another source of more oil could emerge in the coming months after Kuwait indicated that a long-standing dispute over the “Neutral Zone” on its border with Saudi Arabia will resolve by the end of 2019.

Production at two large oil fields in the Neutral Zone was halted more than three years ago, cutting output by some 500,000 barrels per day.