Yahoo Finance FTSE 100: Shell shares drop as oil price falls
Shell (SHEL.L) was struggling this session, with shares slipping over 1% in early trading, as oil prices weakened ahead of Thursday’s Opec+ meeting.
BP (BP.L) and Shell both eased around 1% as the price of Brent (BZ=F) crude fell below $80 (£63.38)/barrel after retreating by 2.3% over the last three sessions, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) fell to $74.12/barrel.
"The premier index drifted lower, with an oil price which has drifted given OPEC uncertainty over the rearranged and upcoming meeting putting some pressure on the majors, with BP and Shell weaker,” Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said.
Read more: LIVE: FTSE dragged by oil and mining stocks ahead of delayed OPEC+ meeting
ING analysts said market sentiment remains negative given the lack of consensus within OPEC+ over production quotas, although they expect Saudi Arabia to roll over its additional voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day into next year.
"Clearly, if we do not see this, it would put further downward pressure on the market, given the surplus over 1Q24," ING analysts said in a research note.
“OPEC+ will have to show significant supply discipline, or at least jawbone such ability, to alleviate market worries of a deep surplus in oil markets next year,” Vivek Dhar, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said.
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The oil major reported earnings of $6.2bn (£5.1bn) between July and September, up sharply on the previous quarter, on the back of rising oil prices.
However, share price has fallen around 6% from its peak earlier in the autum.
Watch: Why there will be continued 'pressure on oil prices'
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