Oil prices fall after OPEC+ decision to increase production

Oil prices fell on August 4, with OPEC+'s decision to ramp up production once again fueling concerns about a supply glut, while US data points to a weakening economy, Report informs referring to Interfax.

Eight OPEC+ countries that had previously announced voluntary oil production cuts in addition to their overall quotas (Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman) decided to increase their production quotas by 547,000 barrels per day compared to August at a meeting on August 3. This is equivalent to four monthly increases previously planned.

Since April, the countries have been rapidly increasing production compared to the plan approved in December 2024. The cost of October Brent futures on the London ICE Futures exchange was $69.46 per barrel, which is $0.21 (0.3%) lower than at the close of the previous trades. WTI oil futures for September on the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by $0.1 (0.15%), to $67.23 per barrel.

The data from the US Department of Labor, published on Friday, showed a weaker-than-expected increase in the number of jobs in the country in July. The indicator increased by 73,000, while experts surveyed by Trading Economics predicted an increase of 110,000. In addition, the data for the previous two months were significantly revised downwards. Unemployment in the US in July rose to 4.2% from 4.1% in June.