Oil prices tumbled about 5 percent on Thursday, breaking below $50 a barrel to the lowest since late November on signs that OPEC and other producing countries would not take more drastic steps to reduce the world's stubbornly persistent glut of crude.
The slide steepened after OPEC delegates downplayed the chance that their group and other producing countries would deepen their output cuts when they meet on May 25. They did say current output cuts were likely to be extended.
“While the cartel is expected to extend a self-imposed production cap by another six months, it will be a challenge to convince several non-OPEC members to follow suit," said Abhishek Kumar, Senior Energy Analyst at Interfax Energy’s Global Gas Analytics, "Persistent growth in US oil production ... will also make extensions of the OPEC cap beyond 2017 unlikely.” .... http://www.reuters.com
