RTRS: Oil falls as OPEC mulls raising supply target
By Zaida Espana
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday after a delegate from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said the cartel was considering an increase in its supply target in a bid to temper prices.
OPEC, which pumps more than a third of the world's oil, may raise the target by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day when ministers meet on June 8, the delegate said.
"There is a need for an increase to replace the loss from Libya," the delegate said. "Oil prices are too high; $100 oil is scaring people." By 0826 GMT, Brent crude futures fell 39 cents to $114.14 a barrel, while U.S. oil futures were 58 cents down to $99.71 a barrel.
"The markets have not reacted much to the announcement, but we suspect that additional downward pressure could materialize if in fact this turns out to be the case," MF Global analysts said in a note.
"We still have a hard time seeing how commodity prices could move higher over the course of June given the fact that economic growth is now approaching 'stall speed', particularly here in the U.S," MF added.
Equity markets and the dollar took a knock after U.S. jobs and factory output data added to concerns that U.S. economic recovery is running out of steam, leading economists to slash their forecasts for Friday's non-farm payrolls report.
Factory growth around the world weakened last month, surveys from Europe to Asia showed.
"It is persistently bearish macro numbers (including yesterday's dissipating May PMIs in China, the U.S. and Eurozone) that should limit gains in oil, and market participants remain reluctant to enter large trades just yet," VTB Capital's Andrey Kryuchenkov said. OPEC
