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Oil holds steady near four-month high on OPEC+ cuts

07 August 2023 09:04 (UTC +04:00)

Oil prices edged down on Monday, but were still near their highest levels since mid-April after top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to keep supplies down for another month to tighten global markets further and support prices, APA reports citing Reuters.

Brent crude futures slipped 10 cents, or 0.1%, to $86.14 a barrel by 0420 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $82.73 a barrel, down 9 cents, or 0.1%.

Both contracts notched their sixth consecutive weekly gains last week, the longest winning streak since December 2021 to January 2022.

"The bullishness is in line with our expectations of a stronger second half for oil compared to the first half," said Suvro Sarkar, lead energy analyst at DBS Bank.

Oil prices have in recent weeks been underpinned by expectations of U.S. interest rate hikes tapering off, a reduction in OPEC+ supplies and hopes of stimulus boosting oil demand recovery in the world's top crude importer China after a dismal second quarter.

The world's top exporter Saudi Arabia on Thursday extended its voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to the end of September, adding that it could be extended beyond then or deepened. The kingdom's production for September will be around 9 million bpd.