2021.02.1109:52:00UTC+00Oil Prices Fall Amid Profit Taking

Oil prices fell on Thursday after enjoying the longest winning streak in two years on the back of output cuts, vaccine rollouts and U.S. stimulus hopes.

Benchmark Brent crude dropped 0.7 percent to $61.02 per barrel, after having risen during the past nine sessions, its longest sustained period of gains since January 2019. U.S. crude futures were down 0.6 percent at $58.34.

OPEC+ would keep its output cuts policy unchanged at a March meeting and Saudi Arabia will continue making its extra voluntary cuts of a million barrels per day, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said in a press conference on Wednesday.

However, speculation is rife that the recent rally in the oil market could tempt producers like Saudi Arabia to reduce output by less.

Saudi Arabia is unilaterally reducing supply in February and March, supplementing cuts agreed by other members of the OPEC+.

On the data front, the near-term outlook for the euro area looks weaker than expected last autumn, as the pandemic tightened its grip on the region, the European Commission said in its interim Winter forecast, released today.

The currency bloc is forecast to grow 3.8 percent this year, instead of 4.2 percent projected previously. Meanwhile, the outlook for 2022 was raised to 3.8 percent from 3 percent.