The price of Brent crude dropped near $81 a barrel today amid concerns of a surging supply glut, outweighing supply disruption worries in Libya.

Reuters reported that Brent crude oil for December delivery declined 62 cents to $81.05, near its four-year low, while US crude fell 66 cents to settle at $77.28 a barrel.

"OPEC delegates are beginning to indicate that it may cut production by about 500,000 barrels per day."

Oil prices have declined 30% since June this year.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) delegates are beginning to indicate that it may cut production by about 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) at its meeting in Vienna later this month.

However, delegates within OPEC warned that a deal will not be easy, and analysts doubt that members will take any decisive action.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner was quoted by Reuters as saying that the market is still assessing whether an OPEC cut of 500,000 bpd will make oil prices more vulnerable to the impact of potential supply disruptions, due to geopolitical tensions in Libya and other oil producers.

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Exports are still being blocked at Libya’s Hariga port and the El Sharara oilfield also remains closed.

A Reuters poll of analysts has found that US oil inventory data due on Wednesday and Thursday could show crude stocks of 800,000 barrels in the week ended 7 November.

Energy