Oil prices opened strongly on Monday, with Brent holding above $80 a barrel, as investors awaited the OPEC+ meeting later this week for an agreement to curb supplies into 2024.
Brent crude futures edged up 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $80.70 a barrel by 0028 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $75.64 a barrel, up 10 cents, Reuters reported.
Both contracts rose slightly last week, their first weekly gain in five, underpinned by expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia could roll over voluntary supply cuts into early 2024 and OPEC+ might discuss plans to reduce further.
Prices tumbled in the middle of last week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, postponed a ministerial meeting to November 30 to iron out differences on production targets for African producers.
Since then, the group has moved closer to a compromise, Reuters reported on Friday, citing unnamed OPEC+ sources.
“We still expect an extension of the unilateral Saudi and Russia cuts through at least 2024Q1, and unchanged group cuts, although a deeper group insurance cut is likely on the table,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
Ahead of the OPEC+ meeting, estimated exports by OPEC countries have declined to 1.3 million barrels per day below levels in April, they added, in line with the group’s supply targets.
However, the UAE is set to ramp up exports of flagship Murban crude early next year as a new OPEC+ mandate kicks in and barrels are diverted to the international market owing to refinery maintenance, according to traders and Reuters data, the report said.
The International Energy Agency said it expects a slight surplus in global oil markets in 2024 even if the OPEC+ nations extend their cuts into next year.
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