As growing concerns about a supply glut subsided, OPEC+ opted to postpone output increases in the first quarter of next year, which caused oil prices to rise in early Asian trade on Monday.
Brent crude futures closed 7 cents higher on Friday and then increased 47 cents, or 0.73%, to $65.24 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 41 cents the previous session and was now up 45 cents, or 0.74%, at $61.43 a barrel. On Sunday, OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, decided to increase production by 137,000 barrels per day in December, just as they did in October and November.
“The eight countries also decided to pause the production increments in January, February, and March 2026 due to seasonality beyond December,” the organization said in a statement.
Fears of a supply glut and economic concerns about U.S. tariffs caused Brent and WTI to drop more than 2% for the third consecutive month in October, reaching a five-month low on October 20. According to a Reuters survey, analysts are keeping their predictions for the price of oil mostly the same as geopolitical supply worries are mitigated by OPEC+ output growth and weak demand.
The oil market excess was estimated to be between 0.19 and 3 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil production increased 86,000 barrels per day to a record 13.8 million barrels per day in August, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration on Friday.
