Oil prices have declined, as OPEC+ members consider an oil production surge for the third consecutive month.
Brent crude futures had dropped by 0.68% to US$64.00 by 3 pm (AEST), while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 0.74% to $60.75. This is set to represent oil’s first weekly price drop in three weeks.
OPEC+ is discussing increasing output by 411,000 barrels per day in July, according to Bloomberg. The group also raised output by 411,000 barrels per day in May and in June.
Saudi Arabia reportedly warned other OPEC+ members in May that production increases would continue until overproducing nations like Kazakhstan and Iraq comply with quotas.
OPEC+ member Nigeria has called on oil and gas companies to collaborate to increase the country’s oil production amid repeated output hikes. The country’s output was 1.4 million barrels per day in 2025’s first quarter, below the bloc’s quota of 1.8 million barrels per day.
A decision on a further production hike is due at the next OPEC+ meeting on 1 June.
“We're seeing the market reacting to evidence that OPEC is letting go of a strategy to defend price in favour of market share," said Onyx Capital Group research head Harry Tchiliguirian. "It's a bit like taking off a Band-Aid; you do it in one fell swoop.”
The United States Energy Information Administration has released its weekly petroleum status report, meanwhile. “U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.5 million barrels per day during the week ending May 16, 2025, which was 89 thousand barrels per day more than the previous week’s average,” the report said. “Refineries operated at 90.7% of their operable capacity last week.”
