Opec+ has agreed to increase output by 648,000 barrels per day of oil in August, endorsing a plan the group announced earlier this month and defying calls to pump more barrels to cool red-hot crude prices.
Brent futures fell 2.6% to $114.90 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude were down 4.6% to $106.57 per barrel amid concerns about global supply tightness.
The decision to stick with a planned output increase takes place as US President Joe Biden intends to visit Saudi Arabia in July.
It was the group’s fifth meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine, which sent oil prices above $100 per barrel for the first time in eight years. Opec+ will now reconvene on 3 August.
The increase in production levels for August match the 648,000 bpd the alliance also agreed for July.
Before this, Opec+ rolled out monthly increases of 432,000 bpd that the group agreed to last year as part of a plan to raise output to pre-pandemic levels.
Opec+ has rebuffed repeated calls from the US and other major oil-consuming nations to pump more crude to help tame prices.
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