Oil fell for a fourth day as traders looked ahead to this week's delayed OPEC+ meeting and wider financial markets carried a risk-off tone.

Global benchmark Brent dropped below US$80 a barrel after falling in each of the last five weeks, the longest such run since the end of 2021. Crude fell alongside equities as the week's trading kicked off, with data showing profits at China's industrial companies rose at a much slower pace in October, highlighting risks to growth in the world's largest crude importer.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had to push back the critical gathering to decide on supply policy by four days to Nov. 30 amid a dispute over quotas. Signs of weakness in crude futures have traders and analysts expecting the group will take additional measures to tighten the market.

Brent has dropped by almost a fifth from a high in late September on increased supply from non-OPEC+ countries and the fading of the Israel-Hamas war risk premium. The International Energy Agency forecast earlier this month that the market would tip back into surplus next year.

“Sentiment in the oil market remains negative,” ING analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note. “We believe that the Saudis will roll over this cut and there is a growing possibility that we see a deeper cut from the broader group. In doing this, the group would provide good support to the market going into 2024.”

Prices:

• Brent for January settlement fell 1.6 per cent to US$79.31 a barrel at 10:22 a.m. in London.
• WTI for January delivery declined 1.7 per cent to US$74.22 a barrel.