Oil prices fell on Tuesday as the prospect of a looming oversupply deepened following reports that OPEC+ will approve an expected increase this weekend and that oil exports from northern Iraq via Türkiye will resume.
Brent crude futures for November delivery, due on Tuesday, fell 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $67.69 a barrel by 06:30 GMT. The more active December contract fell 33 cents, or 0.5%, to $66.76 a barrel. WTI Crude oil traded 29 cents, or 0.5%, at $63.16 a barrel.
Monday’s declines followed a series of declines that saw Brent and WTI close down more than 3% after posting their sharpest daily declines since August 1.
According to sources, OPEC+, including Russia, are likely to approve an oil production increase of at least 137,000 barrels per day at a meeting scheduled for Sunday. However, even though OPEC+ is already below its quota, the market appears unwilling to accept more oil under these circumstances.
Meanwhile, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, crude oil flowed from northern Iraq to Türkiye via pipeline for the first time in two and a half years on Saturday after a temporary agreement broke the deadlock.
The market has been cautious in recent weeks, balancing supply risks, particularly those stemming from Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian refineries, with concerns about oversupply and weak demand.
Analysts noted that in addition to the downward trend, the risk of a US government shutdown is also fueling demand concerns.
The US government shutdown could disrupt a wide range of services and delay the release of economic data, including the payroll report scheduled for Friday, which is critical to the decision-making processes of Federal Reserve policymakers.
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