May 25 Reuters Oil prices fell on Thursday after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak played down the prospect of further OPEC production cuts at its meeting next week.

Brent crude futures was down 41 cents, or 0.5, to 77.95 a barrel at 0815 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude WTI fell 51 cents, or 0.7, to 73.83.

I don39;t think that there will be any new steps, because just a month ago certain decisions were made regarding the voluntary reduction of oil production by some countries… Novak was quoted as saying by Izvestia newspaper.

In the previous session, oil prices were supported by a warning from Saudi Arabia39;s energy minister that shortsellers betting oil prices will fall should watch out for pain.

Some investors took that as a signal that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC and allies including Russia, together called OPEC, could consider further output cuts at a meeting on June 4.

The obvious reading is that the Kingdom may either unilaterally cut oil production or orchestrate a wider OPEC reduction …thereby supporting prices and stinging speculators that are shorting oil, analysts at bank MUFG said.

Uncertainty over U.S. debt also weighed on prices.

Some progress had been made but several issues remained unresolved in U.S. debt ceiling negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday, as the deadline ticked closer to raise the federal government39;s 31.4 trillion borrowing limit or risk default….