Oil prices decline ahead of OPEC+ meeting, record weekly gains

Oil prices fell, on Dec. 2, before OPEC+ meeting and after the European Union (EU) agreed to cap the maritime trade of Russian oil at $60 per barrel.

The EU's decision to cap Russia's maritime trade of oil will come into effect on Dec. 5. In addition, the EU started to ban Russia' maritime crude imports.

OPEC+ will hold a meeting on Sunday amid forecasts of keeping the oil output policy unchanged and possibility of lowering supplies.

The US drilling rig count remained unchanged at 627 in the week ended Dec. 2, General Electric Co.’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday.

Brent crude futures for February delivery fell 1.5%, or $1.31, to $85.57 a barrel, but recorded weekly gains of 2.3%. Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for January delivery moved down 1.5%, or $1.24, to $79.98 a barrel.