Oil drops below $66 a barrel

Oil continued its downward march falling below $66 a barrel this morning. Analyst and traders counted in a quicker than expected recovery of BP’s Prudhoe Bay oil field, which accounts for 400,000 barrels a day.

Opec is meeting in Vienna today and is expected to keep production rates steady – at 28 million barrels per day, however the Qatari oil minister suggested that cuts may be on the agenda in at their December meeting.

The price of lower crude oil also helped push down the Japanese Nikkei as energy stocks such as Inpex Holdings fell (down 3.2 percent) after reduced earnings because of lower oil prices.

The easing of oil prices may also help tip the balance at the next Fed meeting when it meets to discuss whether it should set back on its upwards trend or continue with the pause. Reduced oil prices will help the call for the continuation of a pause.