Oil is on track for its most significant weekly decline in nearly a year, driven by concerns over weak demand and ample supply, despite Opec+ postponing a scheduled production increase by two months.
Brent crude is trading below $73 per barrel, marking a decrease of over 7% for the week, while West Texas Intermediate hovers around $69.
Opec+—the coalition of oil-producing nations and their allies—announced it would delay its planned increase of 180,000 barrels per day in October and November, maintaining its overall strategy to gradually reintroduce 2.2 million barrels per day over the course of a year.
Initially, Opec+ had signaled intentions to proceed with the planned output increases from October, but reversed its decision following a sharp drop in global benchmark prices.
Although oil prices initially rose following the alliance’s announcement on Thursday, they ultimately closed the session unchanged.
Citigroup analyst Eric Lee commented, “We see the Opec+ production delay, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and financial positioning as factors likely to support oil prices in the $70 to $72 range for Brent.”
In the U.S., recent official data revealed that commercial crude inventories fell by nearly 7 million barrels last week, reaching their lowest level in about a year.
