World oil prices on Friday, May 5, continue to show a negative trend on investors' fears of an overabundance of reserves in the world due to increased production in the US,.

On the eve of the Brent crude oil blend fell below $ 47 a barrel for the first time since November 30 last year, when OPEC announced an agreement to limit production. Its cost was 46.65 dollars per barrel.

As of 6:37, the price of July futures for the North Sea oil blend of Brent brand decreased by 2.67% - to 47.09 dollars per barrel. The price of June futures for WTI crude oil fell by 2.72% - to 44.28 dollars per barrel, being below the psychological mark of $ 45 for the first time since November 29 last year.

Earlier, the US Department of Energy reported on commercial oil reserves in the country (excluding the strategic reserve). For the week ended April 28, they fell by 0.9 million barrels, or 0.2% to 527.8 million barrels. At the same time, analysts predicted a greater decline in the indicator - by 2.333 million barrels, or 0.44% m - to 526.367 million barrels. At the same time, raw materials production in the country increased by 0.3%, or by 28 thousand barrels per day - to 9.293 million barrels per day.

The market of black gold is also being prepared for the meeting of the OPEC ministerial committee on May 24 in Vienna. All parties to the agreement must prepare their positions on the extension of the agreement on the reduction of oil production. The final decision will be made on May 25, after a thorough study of the situation in the market and the processing of positions of all parties to the agreement.

"The main question is whether OPEC will undertake to continue to cut as much as it takes to reduce surplus stocks," the newspaper quoted by The Wall Street Journal of analysts at the consulting company Sanford C. Bernstein.

OPEC countries agreed on reducing oil production after a year of disputes. From January 1, 2017, they will reduce oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day - up to 32.5 million. At the same time, the agreement presupposes participation of countries outside the cartel. It is designed for six months with the possibility of extending for another six months.

Meanwhile, countries that are not part of OPEC agreed to cut oil production by 600,000 barrels per day. It was reported that half of this amount falls to Russia.