Oil prices have remained stable ahead of today’s OPEC+ meeting.
WTI rose to $72.84 as US stocks were depleted ahead of the highly anticipated OPEC+ meeting.
By the end of Wall Street trading, the spot was near $73.51 and has since firmed in the Asian session.
By the end of the day, the price had moved between a low of $72.84 and a high of $74.12 on the day. WTI crude for August delivery finished at US$73.47 a barrel, up $0.49 from its previous high of US$74.14.
The market, however, gave up some of its early gains after the Energy Information Administration’s weekly report failed to corroborate an 8.2-million-barrel decline in US stockpiles published the day before.
According to EIA statistics, inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, fell to their lowest level since March 2020.
OPEC+ will decide whether or not to add fresh supply to the market in August, with most analysts anticipating the organization to contribute at least 0.5 million barrels per day to meet rising demand.
OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said on Tuesday that demand for oil is projected to climb by 6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021, with 5 million bpd of it arriving in the second half of the year./n
