On Saturday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, pledged to raise production by 411,000 barrels per day in July.
Oil prices rose on Monday after the OPEC+ producer group’s latest output hike, which was lower than some had expected amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
Brent crude futures rose 2.3% to $64.24 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 3% at $62.62 per barrel at 4:02 am ET. Both contracts fell by over 1% in the previous week.
On Saturday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, pledged to raise production by 411,000 barrels per day in July, similar to the earlier hikes this year.
The efforts by OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia, are seen as a punishment for members such as Iraq and Kazakhstan, which have repeatedly exceeded their production quotas.
"Had they gone through with a surprise larger amount, then Monday’s price open would have been pretty ugly indeed," said analyst Harry Tchilinguirian of Onyx Capital Group.
However, Reuters, citing Russia’s Interfax news agency, has reported that Kazakhstan has informed OPEC that it does not intend to reduce its oil production.
"Relatively tight spot oil fundamentals, beats in hard global activity data, and seasonal summer support to oil demand suggest that the expected demand slowdown is unlikely to be sharp enough to stop raising production when deciding on August production levels on July 6th," Goldman Sachs analysts reportedly said about another potential hike in August.
The eight OPEC+ countries will meet on July 6 to determine August production levels.
Over the weekend, Ukraine’s drones struck airbases deep inside Russia’s territory, while a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated that Iran manufactured a record volume of uranium enriched just below the levels needed for nuclear weapons and alleviated concerns over loosening of sanctions, Bloomberg reported.
The United States Oil Fund (USO) has fallen 12.6% year to date, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund is down 5.6%.
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