Oil Prices Hold Steady Pre-Election

5 Nov 2024 , 10:09 AM

After climbing more than 2% the day before as OPEC+ postponed plans to increase output in December, oil prices moved in a narrow range Tuesday ahead of what is predicted to be an extraordinarily close U.S. presidential election.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 13 cents, or 0.18%, to $71.6 a barrel, while Brent crude futures had increased 14 cents, or 0.19%, to $75.22 a barrel.

As sluggish demand and increased non-OPEC supply depress markets, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, or OPEC+, announced Sunday that it will postpone a production hike by one month from December. This move helped to maintain oil prices.

According to a Reuters survey, OPEC oil production increased in October when Libya began production, but the increase was curbed by Iraq’s subsequent attempts to fulfil its commitments to reduce its output to the larger OPEC+ coalition.

Tehran has approved a proposal to boost production by 250,000 barrels per day, which might lead to more oil coming from OPEC member Iran, according to a report published on the oil ministry’s news website Shana on Monday.

According to analysts, a late-season tropical storm that is expected to strengthen into a category 2 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this week may cut oil production in the United States by roughly 4 million barrels.

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