Oil stayed flat as OPEC+ hiked outputs smaller than expected
Oil prices were largely unchanged on Tuesday as traders weighed a modest production increase from the producer alliance against growing signs of oversupply heading into the year-end.
Oil prices were largely unchanged on Tuesday as traders weighed a modest production increase from the producer alliance against growing signs of oversupply heading into the year-end.
Brent crude slipped 2 cents to settle at $65.45 a barrel.
WTI rose 4 cents to $61.73. The flat close followed gains of more than 1% in the previous session, with sentiment capped by concerns that rising inventories and record output could pressure prices in the months ahead.
The OPEC+ planned to raise collective output by 137,000 barrels per day in November, below expectations. However, gains were capped by rising US production, now forecast by the EIA to reach a record 13.53 million barrels per day, and by growing global inventories.
China’s accelerated reserve building somewhat helped to cushion the fall. Meanwhile, a drone strike on Russia’s Kirishi refinery temporarily halted its main distillation unit, with recovery expected to take about a month — a short-term supportive factor but insufficient to shift broader sentiment.
Written: Aiman Haikal