Oil prices drop ahead of OPEC meeting

Oil prices dipped Monday as the dollar strengthened and the market looked ahead to an OPEC meeting expected to keep output high.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery shed 10 cents to $60.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

European benchmark Brent oil for delivery in July lost 68 cents at $64.88 a barrel in London.

Analysts noted that Monday’s drop was small compared with Friday’s move, when crude bolted more than $2 higher on news of US drilling cutbacks and an attack on a Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia which Islamic State claimed credit for.

“We see the market attempting to recover from Friday’s price surge, attempting to assess just how much of those gains will prove sustainable,” said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures.

Oil was also pinched by big gains in the dollar against the euro and other currencies. A strong dollar makes crude more costly for countries that use other currencies.

Analysts are anticipating a status-quo result from Friday’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The cartel, which pumps about 30 percent of the world’s oil, is expected to keep output unchanged.

Gulf members led by Saudi Arabia are expected to resist calls to cut output as they seek to protect market share from booming shale production in the US.

Houston energy consultant Andy Lipow said a move by OPEC to keep output steady “will continue to put oil under pressure as the market remains oversupplied.”