Global oil prices surge after major OPEC+ decision — Reuters
Photo: Global oil prices began to rise due to an important decision by OPEC (Getty Images)
Global oil prices began to rise after OPEC+ countries decided to refrain from increasing production in the first quarter of next year, Reuters reports.
According to the agency, Brent crude futures rose 28 cents, or 0.43%, to $65.05 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was trading at $61.23 per barrel, up 25 cents, or 0.41%.
This increase is due to the decision of the OPEC+ countries, which on Sunday agreed to increase production by 137,000 barrels per day in December, as in October and November, but do not plan to increase it in the first quarter of next year.
"Beyond December, due to seasonality, the eight countries also decided to pause the production increments in January, February, and March 2026," the group said in a statement.
ING commodities research head Warren Patterson said the decision appeared to be an acknowledgment of the large surplus the market will face, especially early next year.
"Obviously, still plenty of uncertainty over the scale of the surplus, which will be dependent on how disruptive U.S. sanctions will be to Russian oil flows," he added.
At the same time, analysts are keeping their oil price forecasts virtually unchanged, as OPEC+ production growth and low demand offset geopolitical risks to supply.
Background
Russian refined fuel exports fell sharply amid new Western sanctions and successful Ukrainian attacks.
In October, the US announced new sanctions against Russia. They affected Rosneft and Lukoil. According to Western media reports, Indian refineries have already begun to reduce imports of Russian oil amid these restrictions.
