Brent crude futures rose 47 cents, or 0.73 percent, to $65.24 a barrel by 2336 GMT, after closing 7 cents higher on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude traded at $61.43 a barrel, up 45 cents, or 0.74 percent, after rising 41 cents in the previous session.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to increase production by 137,000 barrels per day in December, the same as in October and November.
“After December, the eight countries have also decided to pause production increases in January, February and March 2026 due to seasonality,” the group said in a statement.
RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said: “There is ample reason for a cautious approach given the uncertainty surrounding first quarter supply and expected weak demand.”
She added that Russia remains a key wildcard in the wake of US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil and continued attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure. A Ukrainian drone strike struck the port of Tuapse, one of Russia’s most important oil ports in the Black Sea, on Sunday, causing a fire and damaging at least one ship. Brent and WTI fell more than 2 percent for the third month in a row in October, hitting a five-month low on October 20 on supply glut fears and US economic concerns. rates.
Analysts are keeping their oil price forecasts largely unchanged as rising OPEC+ production and weak demand offset geopolitical risks to supply, a Reuters poll showed. Estimates of the oil market surplus ranged from 0.19 to 3 million barrels per day.
The Energy Information Administration said Friday that U.S. crude oil production rose 86,000 barrels per day to a record 13.8 million barrels per day in August.
On Friday, President Donald Trump denied he was considering strikes in Venezuela, amid rising expectations that Washington could soon expand drug trafficking-related operations.
#Oil #prices #rising #OPEC #production #steady #quarter