Oil prices respond to OPEC+'s decision to refrain from raising production

Oil prices rose after OPEC+ decided to refrain from raising production in the first quarter of next year, easing growing fears of a surplus.

This is what Ekonomichna Pravda reports with reference to Reuters.

The report says that Brent futures rose by 24 cents, or 0.37%, to USD 65.01 per barrel after +7 cents on Friday.

WTI rose 21 cents, or 0.34%, to USD 61.19 after +41 cents in the previous session.

The report said that OPEC+ on Sunday agreed to increase production in December by 137,000 bpd, the same as in October and November.

"Outside of December, due to seasonality, eight countries also decided to suspend increases in January, February and March 2026," the group said in a statement.

According to Warren Patterson, head of commodities research at ING, this decision by OPEC+ looks like a recognition of the large surplus that threatens the market, especially at the beginning of next year.

"There is still a lot of uncertainty about the extent of the surplus - it will depend on how disruptive US sanctions are to Russian oil flows," he added.

Helima Croft, head of commodities strategy at RBC, also emphasized that russia remains a key wild card given the US sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as the ongoing attacks on the country's energy infrastructure as part of the war against Ukraine.

"There is every reason to be cautious given the uncertainty of supply in the first quarter and the expected weakness in demand," she said.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, oil prices on Monday, October 20, declined due to a possible global oversupply, as escalating trade tensions between the US and China heightened fears of an economic slowdown and lower energy demand.