Oil Near The Peak of 2018 Before The OPEC+ Meeting

Oil prices touched high levels not recorded since October 2018, and then fell from them, at a time when investors focus on the OPEC meeting this week, while the differences between the United States and Iran over the revival of the nuclear agreement continue, delaying the increase in Iranian oil exports.

Brent crude for August delivery fell one cent to $76.17 a barrel , while US West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery recorded $74.09 a barrel, an increase of four cents.

The OPEC + group returns 2.1 million barrels of crude to the market from May to the end of July, as part of a plan to gradually reduce the unprecedented production restrictions that began last year.

OPEC+ meets on July 1, and production cuts may be scaled back further in August as oil prices rise and demand recovers.

ANZ and ING expect that OPEC+ will raise production by about 500,000 barrels per day in August, which is likely to support higher prices.