Oil extend gains on prospects of tighter supply as OPEC+ talks called off

Oil prices extended gains on Tuesday, with Brent and WTI hitting their highest since 2018 on expectations that supplies will tighten further after OPEC+ talks were called off just as global fuel demand recovers.

Brent crude climbed 32 cents, or 0.4%, to $77.48 a barrel by 0408 GMT, after gaining 1.3% on Monday. It reached the highest since October 29, 2018 at $77.61 earlier in the session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $76.69 a barrel, up $1.53, or 2.0%, from Friday’s close, having traded through a U.S. holiday to mark Independence Day without a settlement. It had earlier hit its highest since Oct. 3, 2018 of $76.77 a barrel, just shy of the $76.90 peak that was WTI’s highest since October 2018.

Ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, called off oil output talks and set no new date to resume them, after clashing last week when the United Arab Emirates rejected a proposed eight-month extension to output curbs, meaning no deal to boost production has been agreed. [Reuters]