Oil hits record above $90 on OPEC report

Oil futures jumped to a new record close of $90.46 a barrel Thursday on news that OPEC production increases aren’t coming as fast as expected and that the cartel won’t announce new output quotas when it meets next month.

Prices were already higher on growing concerns about conflict in the Middle East and declining supplies of crude in the U.S. when Oil Movements, a company that tracks oil tanker traffic, reported that crude shipments from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members will grow more slowly than anticipated through early November, according to Dow Jones Newswires.


Meanwhile, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla el-Badri told The Wall Street Journal Asia that the cartel is not in discussions to boost production by 500,000 barrels. El-Badri’s comments counter rumors that Saudi Arabia is pushing for a production increase. In September, OPEC bowed to Saudi pressure and announced a production increase of 500,000 barrels a day, effective Nov. 1.

“It shows a little drama in the cartel,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery rose $3.36 to settle at $90.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising as high as $90.60 earlier.

AP