OIL PRICE: ABOVE $62 YET

REUTERS -  Oil prices plunged to their lowest since late 2017 on Friday in choppy trading, weighed down by an emerging crude supply overhang and a darkening economic outlook.

To counter bulging supply, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is expected to start withholding output after a meeting planned for Dec. 6.

International benchmark Brent crude oil futures fell their lowest since December 2017 at $61.52 per barrel, before recovering to $62.13 by 0741 GMT. That was 47 cents, or 0.8 percent below their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slumped 2.3 percent, to $53.38 a barrel. Prices earlier fell to as low as $52.82, only 5 cents about the $52.77 level reached on Tuesday, which was the lowest since October 2017.

Amid the plunge, Brent and WTI price volatility has jumped in November to approach levels not seen since the market slump of 2014-2016 and, before that, the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

The divergence between U.S. and international crude comes as surging North American supply is clogging the system and depressing prices there, while global markets are somewhat tighter, in part because of reduced exports from Iran due to newly imposed U.S. sanctions.

Overall, however, global oil supply has surged this year, with the top-three producers - the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia - pumping more than a third of global consumption, which stands at around 100 million barrels per day (bpd).

"The market is currently oversupplied," said U.S. investment bank Jefferies on Friday, adding that "an oversupplied market has a difficult time setting a (price) floor."

High production comes as the demand outlook weakens on the back of a global economic slowdown.

Shanghai stocks fell the most in five weeks on Friday, by 2.5 percent, amid worries over China's economic growth and doubts over the chances of President Xi Jingping and U.S. President Donald Trump achieving a de-escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war when they meet next week.

Oil prices have plunged by around 30 percent since their last peaks in early October, as global production started to exceed consumption in the fourth quarter of this year, ending a period of undersupply that started in the first quarter of 2017, according to data in Refinitiv Eikon.

Adjusting to lower demand, top crude exporter Saudi Arabia said on Thursday that it may reduce supply.

"We will not sell oil that customers don't need," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters.

Saudi Arabia is pushing OPEC to cut oil supply by as much as 1.4 million bpd to prevent a supply glut.

The group officially meets on Dec. 6 to discuss its supply policy.

U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said it saw "a far greater probability that OPEC reaches an agreement to balance the market in 2019" than not, adding that this would likely support oil prices "in the high-$50s, at least near term."

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Earlier: 

2018, November, 22, 11:45:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $63 REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were at $54.35 per barrel at 0534 GMT, 28 cents, or 0.5 percent below their last settlement. Front-month Brent crude oil futures were at $63.25 per barrel, down 23 cents, or 0.4 percent.

2018, November, 22, 11:20:00 SAUDIS OIL RECORD: 10.9 MBD BLOOMBERG - Saudi Arabian oil production surged to a record near 11 million barrels a day this month after the kingdom received stronger-than-usual demand from clients preparing for a disruption in Iranian supplies, according to industry executives who track Saudi output.

2018, November, 19, 11:50:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $67 REUTERS - Front-month Brent crude oil futures were at $67.41 per barrel at 0746 GMT, up 65 cents, or 1 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were up 76 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $57.22 per barrel.

2018, November, 16, 10:10:00 OIL PRICE: NEAR $67 YET REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $56.84 per barrel at 0353 GMT, up 38 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude oil futures were up 48 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $67.10 per barrel.

2018, November, 16, 09:30:00 SAUDIS ARE ANGRY REUTERS - “The Saudis are very angry at Trump. They don’t trust him any more and feel very strongly about a cut. They had no heads-up about the waivers,” said one senior source briefed on Saudi energy policies.

2018, November, 14, 12:25:00 OIL PRICE: NEAR $65 REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $55.52 per barrel at 0732 GMT, down 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last settlement. International benchmark Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were down 9 cents at $65.38 per barrel.

2018, November, 14, 12:15:00 OIL MARKET UNCERTAINTY CNBC - Saudi Arabia, OPEC's biggest producer and the world's top crude exporter, intends to cut shipments by 500,000 barrels a day in December, Khalid al Falih, the country's energy minister said on Sunday. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday he wasn't convinced the oil market would be oversupplied in 2019. Russia is the world's second biggest oil producer after the United States and, along with Saudi Arabia, plays an influential role in the oil alliance.