Oil Prices Fall Again: OPEC+ Signals Increased Production
Oil prices fell slightly again on Friday (February 13th) after the market picked up on signals that OPEC+ was leaning toward continuing production increases starting in April. At the same time, concerns about supply disruptions from the US-Iran conflict eased, so the "geopolitical premium" that had been supporting prices this week began to diminish.
In the latest update, Brent fell -0.2% to $67.41/barrel and WTI fell -0.2% to $62.69/barrel. With this position, the market is headed for a weekly correction: Brent -1.0% and WTI -1.3% for the current week.
Sentiment is also increasingly weighed down by the "loose supply" narrative from the IEA report, which assesses weak demand growth, while supply has the potential to exceed market needs. Furthermore, the potential for additional supply from Venezuela is also a factor making market participants more defensive.
On the geopolitical front, comments by US President Donald Trump that opened the door to a deal with Iran in the near future eased tensions, although US media reports about the deployment of additional aircraft carriers have kept the market on edge. For now, the direction of oil prices is determined more by the combination of the prospect of a surplus and OPEC+ supply plans than by geopolitical headlines alone.
Source: Newsmaker.id
