Oil Falls to New 11-year Low over Saudi-Iran Row

Oil prices shed more than 4 per cent to new 11-year lows on Wednesday, January 6 as the rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran made any cooperation between major exporters to cut output even more unlikely.

The row over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shi’ite cleric has chopped nearly 8 percent off the price of oil in the last three trading days, wiping speculation that OPEC members might agree to production cuts to lift prices.

“There are rising stockpiles and the tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia make any deal on production unlikely,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

Benchmark Brent crude futures were at $35.07 a barrel at 1318 GMT, down $1.58 on the day, and reached their lowest since early July 2004, having staged their largest one-day drop in percentage terms in nearly five weeks.

U.S. crude futures were down $1.25 cents at $34.72 a barrel after slipping 79 cents the previous day.

Oil has slumped from above $115 in June 2014 as shale oil from the United States has flooded the market, while falling prices have prompted some producers to pump even harder to compensate for lower revenues and to keep market share.

Adding to this oversupply, Iranian oil exports are widely expected to increase in 2016 as Western sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program are lifted.

“Shale production and increasing capacity from countries like Russia who need to protect revenue combined with expectations of further Iranian supply mean actual production as well as expectations of future production are rising,” Hewson said.