* OPEC ends meeting with no output cuts announced
* OPEC, Russia to discuss potential supply cut on Friday
* GRAPHIC-OPEC, U.S. & Russia output:
* U.S. turns into net exporter of oil
(Updates to settlement, details on Friday meeting)
By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Oil fell nearly 3 percent in choppy
trading on Thursday after OPEC and its allies ended a meeting without
announcing a decision to cut crude output, and prepared to debate the
matter the next day.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries met in
Vienna to decide production policy in coordination with other
countries including Russia, Oman and Kazakhstan.
OPEC tentatively agreed to cut oil output but was waiting for a
commitment from non-OPEC heavyweight Russia before deciding volumes.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak flew home from Vienna
earlier for talks with President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg.
Novak returns to Austria's capital on Friday for discussions among
Saudi-led OPEC and its allies.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said OPEC needed Russia to
cooperate, and said a decision was likely by Friday evening.
"If everybody is not willing to join and contribute equally,
we will wait until they are," al-Falih said.
Market watchers had expected a joint cut of 1 million to 1.4
million barrels per day (bpd). The OPEC, non-OPEC meeting is set to
start on Friday at 1100 GMT.
"All eyes are now fixated on tomorrow's OPEC+ joint
declaration, and a combined output cut of at least 1 million barrels
per day will be required to see a meaningful recovery in oil
prices," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax
Energy in London.
Brent crude futures fell $1.50, or 2.4 percent, to $60.06 a
barrel, after dropping to a session low of $58.36. U.S. crude futures
fell $1.40, or 2.7 percent, to $51.49, bouncing off a low of $50.08.
The benchmarks have slumped more than 25 percent so far this
quarter.
Prices found some support after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles
declined last week, the first drawdown since September. Inventories
had climbed for 10 straight weeks as domestic production grew to a
weekly record at 11.7 million bpd, data from the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) showed.
The United States, however, last week became a net exporter of
crude and refined products for the first time since at least 1973,
exporting a net 211,000 bpd, on the back of a jump in crude exports to
a record of 3.2 million bpd, the data showed.
Crude prices have sagged almost a third since October, in part due
to concerns about oversupply coming to the fore again as U.S.
production rose in tandem with increased output from Saudi Arabia and
Russia. The three countries are the world's largest producers of oil.
OPEC's crude oil production has risen by 4.1 percent since
mid-2018, to 33.31 million bpd.
European equities hit their lowest in two years.
Commodity-sensitive currencies such as the Russian rouble tumbled on
sliding oil prices and the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech
giant Huawei in Canada for extradition to the United States, just
ahead of crucial trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.
Barclays said in its Global Outlook that "investors need to
lower their expectations" and "2019 should be a period of
lower returns and higher volatility." It forecast that the global
economy would "slow over the next several quarters" although
it added that "not one major economy is near recession."
Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, macro oils at Wood Mackenzie,
said world oil demand growth is expected to average close to 1.1
million bpd in 2018 and 2019.
"This sits against a backdrop of rapid non-OPEC production
growth ... the strength in non-OPEC production creates pressure on
OPEC to curtail its output for 2019 from recent levels, if oil prices
are to remain stable," Hittle said.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
GRAPHIC-OPEC, Russia & U.S. crude oil production GRAPHIC-U.S.
turns into net exporter of oil
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper, Christopher Johnson in LONDON
and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy and
David Gregorio)
((devika.kumar@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6059; Reuters
Messaging: devika.kumar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))