Saudi Arabia: Brent slips below $70 after Saudi Arabia cut prices

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude slipped below $70 a barrel on Friday and was set for a second weekly fall, with Saudi Arabia cutting prices in another indication it would maintain output in an oversupplied market.
Saudi Arabia cut monthly prices for crude it sells to the United States and Asia.
“We’re heading for $60 for Brent. (There is) nothing to stop it,” said Tony Nunan, a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
Brent crude had dropped 43 cents to $69.21 a barrel. U.S. crude was down 35 cents at $66.46, on track for a 1-percent gain this week.
Just a week after Saudi Arabia refused to support OPEC output cuts, the world’s top exporter slashed its oil prices for Asian and U.S. buyers.
“It’s another sign that they want to maintain production levels,” Nunan said.
Brent will average $82.50 a barrel in 2015 and its premium to U.S. crude will narrow to $4.50 a barrel, the poll showed.
The price plunge may put global oil and gas exploration projects worth more than $150 billion on hold next year, potentially curbing supplies by the end of the decade.
In year 2014, the price of crude has dropped around 35 percent. Since May 2010 it is the first time that price of oil has fallen to under $70 a barrel.