Oil prices rose on Wednesday after OPEC and its allies stuck to their plan to cautiously return oil supply in June and July while expecting fuel demand to rebound strongly during the U.S. summer. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $68.05 at 0201 GMT, extending a 2.1% gain following the Memorial Day holiday in the United States on Monday.
Prices rose to their highest since October 2018. Brent crude futures climbed 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $70.62 a barrel, after jumping 1.3% overnight, when it hit its highest since March 8.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, together called OPEC+, agreed on Tuesday to keep to their plan to gradually ease supply curbs through July.
“The market appears focused on the more constructive outlook for later this year, with OPEC+ of the view that the market will see significant stock drawdowns between September and the end of the year,”
ING Economics analysts said in a note. Including extra cuts by Saudi Arabia tapering off through July, the producer group will be returning 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June and 840,000 bpd in July, ING said.
