Oil prices fell over a two-day period, heading for a weekly decline as market participants await the upcoming OPEC+ meeting, where the group may approve another increase in supply.
Brent traded near $67 a barrel after losing more than 3% over the prior two sessions, while West Texas Intermediate was above $63, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.
The alliance will hold a virtual meeting on Sept. 7 to decide the next move after completing the restart of 2.5 million barrels a day of supply at its previous gathering.
Brent crude futures have retreated by 11% this year after the shift by OPEC+ — coupled with supply increases by drillers outside the group — exacerbated concerns about a global glut. Market sentiment has also been weighed down by growing worries over energy demand, driven in part by the impact of trade tariffs introduced by the Trump administration.
Ahead of the OPEC+ session, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said nations involved in the talks didn’t have an agenda for the meeting, Tass reported. “We always look at the current situation as a whole, forecasts,” Novak was quoted as saying. “Based on that, we resolve issues on the spot.”
Oil ended lower on Thursday after a US government report showed a build in nationwide crude stockpiles, including a rise of 1.6 million barrels at the key storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, that was the biggest increase since March. Refinery runs, meanwhile, held at the lowest level since July.
Geopolitical tensions have also been in focus this week, with the US looking to pressure buyers of Russian crude to push Moscow into agreeing a truce in Ukraine. As part of that, Washington has imposed a 50% levy on some imports from India. Separately, President Donald Trump told European leaders to stop buying Russian oil, addressing them during a call, Reuters reported.
Elsewhere, traders tracked events in South America. Two Venezuelan military aircraft flew over a American naval vessel in international waters off the coast, according to the Pentagon, in a fresh escalation between the two adversaries after the US struck a speedboat purportedly carrying drugs from the country.
