Oil settles down more than $1 a barrel as OPEC+ accelerates output hikes
Oil prices fell by more than $1 a barrel on Monday to settle at multi-year lows, as an OPEC+ decision to expedite its output hikes stoked fears about rising global supply at a time when the demand outlook is uncertain.
Brent crude futures settled at $60.23 a barrel, down $1.06, or 1.7%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $57.13 a barrel, falling $1.16, 2%. Both benchmarks settled at the lowest since February 2021.
Last week, Brent shed 8.3% and WTI lost 7.5% after Saudi Arabia signaled it could cope with a prolonged lower price environment. That offset optimism on the demand side that U.S.-China tariff talks could occur, Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.
On Saturday, OPEC+ agreed to further speed up oil production hikes for a second consecutive month, raising output in June by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The June increase by eight participants in the OPEC+ group, which includes allies like Russia, will take the total combined hikes for April, May and June to 960,000 bpd. That represents a 44% unwinding of the 2.2 million bpd of various cuts agreed on since 2022, according to Reuters calculations.
Source: Reuters
