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by Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil costs fell about 2% on Thursday, with OPEC confirming it would only increase output in August as much as reported in the past despite shortages of global supplies, but left the market with doubts about long-term production.
Brent futures for September fell $2. 26, or 2%, to $110. 19 a barrel at 11:50 a. m. m. EDT (15:50 GMT). The August contract, which expires Thursday, fell $1. 05, or 0. 9%, to $115. 21 a barrel.
U. S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futuresThe U. S. fell $2. 79, or 2. 5%, to $106. 99 a barrel.
The OPEC group of manufacturers, which added Russia, agreed on Thursday to stick to its production strategy after two days of meetings. The manufacturers’ club has avoided talking about politics since September.
Previously, OPEC increased production each month through 648,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July and August.
Sanctions on Russian oil since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have helped boost energy prices, stoking fears of inflation and recession.
Oil fell along Wall Street on Thursday. The S
The drop in oil market costs was exacerbated when U. S. investors adjusted their positions ahead of the three-day July 4 holiday weekend.
“People are getting off the table,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
But additional supply disruptions may restrict falling costs amid the suspension of Libyan shipments from two eastern ports, while Ecuadorian production has fallen due to ongoing protests.
In Norway, 74 offshore oil employees on Equinor’s Gudrun, Oseberg South and Oseberg East platforms will go on strike from July 5, Lederne’s union said on Thursday, likely shutting down about four percent of Norwegian oil production.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday that an imagined cap on the value of Russian oil imports could push prices higher.
(Stephanie Kelly reports in New York; more reporting through Noah Browning in London, Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Edited via Lisa Shumaker and Alistair Bell)