All Eyes On OPEC As Bearish Sentiment Intensifies, Oil Continues Downward

Meanwhile, Trump admits he may have lost India and Russia to China: File Image/Pixabay

Oil on Friday continued its downward trajectory, with the lingering sting of the earlier U.S. crude stockpile build disclosure augmented by a weak jobs report in that country.

As of 1608 GMT, Brent fell $1.88 to $65.11 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped $1.94, or to $61.54; WTI is on track to lose about 3 percent for the week – and has retreated by about 14 percent for the year to date.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that just 22,000 jobs were added in August, much lower than economists' expectations for 76,500 new roles.

Bearish sentiment was also stoked by more reports speculating that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will unwind voluntary output cuts, ahead of this weekend's meeting.

However, Alexander Novak, deputy prime minister of Russia, reminded pundits that there is no set agenda for the next meeting, and members always review the current state of the market: "Based on that, we decide issues on the spot."

Undeterred, Commerzbank analysts Barbara Lambrecht and Carsten Fritsch wrote in a note, "If the eight OPEC+ countries were to agree on another production increase, we believe this would place significant downward pressure on oil prices; after all, there is already a significant risk of a supply surplus."

Friday's gloom was furthered by Goldman Sachs, which stated in a research note that it sees "the current oversupply in oil markets intensifying"; it predicts that Brent prices will decline to the low $50s in late 2026.

Comments on Friday by U.S. president Donald Trump didn't help matters; the brash billionaire, who has tried numerous straqtegies to force Russia to end hostilities with Ukraine, told media that his country and its sanctions seems to have "lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China."

Daniel Ghali, a commodity strategist at TD Securities, observed, "Price action remains asymmetrically skewed to the downside into OPEC's upcoming meeting, and with additional supply expected from Guyana and Brazil on the horizon, we remain tactically bearish on crude."