Oil futures: Brent consolidates near $80/b after OPEC+ reassurances

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Crude oil futures Friday were little changed as benchmarks consolidated most of the gains seen in the back half of the week, although heading for overall losses post-OPEC+ meeting.

Front-month Aug24 ICE Brent futures were trading at $79.85/b (1635 GMT), compared to Thursday's settle of $79.87/b and sliding back from the intraday high of $80.38/b.

At the same time Jul24 NYMEX WTI was trading at $75.74/b versus Thursday's settle of $75.55/b.

Prices were lower on the week, having tumbled by around 6% in the wake of last Sunday's OPEC+ meeting, where the group announced an extension to curtailments although it said it would start unwinding some of the cuts from October.

However, senior OPEC+ officials have since moved to offer reassurances that the group will only proceed with the increases if market conditions allow and will pause the unwinding timetable if necessary.

"It's a year and a half agreement, it has all the mechanics, some of the mechanics are not new, we have also exercised it before… especially this issue of pausing or reversing." Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said.

Last Friday, Aug24 Brent futures closed at $ 81.11/b, while Jul24 WTI settled at $76.99/b, as both benchmarks remained close to the low end of the four-month trading range.

Rates

Markets also received some positive news on interest rates as the ECB went ahead with its first interest rate cut since 2019 on Thursday, trimming its deposit rate to 3.75% from a record-high 4.0%.

Prices eased back Friday after the closely-watched nonfarm payrolls had new jobs in May at 272,000, well above the 185,000 forecast, in turn lifting the US Dollar off two-month lows as the Index pushed towards 105 points.

Meanwhile, China's crude oil imports rebounded last month against expectations of more refineries coming out of the spring maintenance season, despite sluggish demand putting a cap on throughputs.

The latest China customs data showed total crude imports in May at 46.97 million mt or 11.06 million bpd, up 1.6% compared to the previous month but still 8% lower on the year.