Oil prices climb more than $1/bbl ahead of OPEC+ meeting

An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo

SINGAPORE – Oil prices jumped more than $1 a barrel on Monday, extending gains as investors eyed possible moves by OPEC+ producers to tweak production and support prices at a meeting later in the day.

Brent crude futures rose $1.43, or 1.5 percent, to $94.45 a barrel by 0054 GMT after gaining 0.7 percent on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $88.12 a barrel, up $1.25, or 1.4 percent, following a 0.3 percent advance in the previous session. U.S. markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday.

Oil prices have fallen in the past three consecutive months, after touching multi-year highs in March, on concerns that interest rate hikes and COVID-19 curbs in parts of China, the world’s top crude importer, may slow global economic growth and cool oil demand.

At their meeting later on Monday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, may decide to keep current output levels or even cut production to bolster prices, despite supplies remaining tight.

“While we expect the group to keep output unchanged, the rhetoric may be bullish as it looks to arrest the recent fall in prices,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

Russia does not support an oil production cut at this time and it is likely OPEC+ will keep its output steady when it meets Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Meanwhile, negotiations dragged on in attempts to revive the revival the West’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. An agreement to do so could allow Tehran to increase exports and improve global supplies.

The White House on Friday rejected linking the deal with the closure of investigations by the U.N. nuclear watchdog a day after Iran reopened the issue, according to a Western diplomat.