Oil on track for steepest weekly price drop in 3.5 months
Kyiv • UNN
Oil prices rose on Friday after four consecutive sessions of declines. Market expectations for increased OPEC+ production led to the steepest weekly drop since late June.
Oil prices rose on Friday after four consecutive sessions of declines, but were on track for their steepest weekly fall since late June due to market expectations that the OPEC+ group could further increase production, despite fears of oversupply, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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Brent crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.7%, to $64.54 a barrel by 05:00 GMT (8:00 Kyiv time). US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.89 a barrel.
For the week, Brent fell 8% and WTI fell 7.4%.
OPEC+ could agree to increase oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November, three times the October increase, as Saudi Arabia seeks to regain market share, Reuters sources said this week.
If OPEC+ does announce a 500,000 bpd increase this weekend, it will likely be a large enough increase to push the oil price down again, initially to the $58.00 support level, and then test this year's lows (around) $55.00.
Potentially higher OPEC+ supply, a slowdown in global refinery operations due to maintenance, and a seasonal drop in demand in the coming months will accelerate the build-up of oil inventories in the US and other countries, analysts say.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that US crude, gasoline, and distillate inventories rose last week as refining activity and demand declined.
"We believe September was a turning point, and the oil market is now heading for a significant surplus in the fourth quarter of 2025 and next year," JPMorgan analysts said in a note.
Finance ministers of the Group of Seven countries said on Wednesday that they would take steps to increase pressure on Russia, targeting those who continue to increase purchases of Russian oil.