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​·         Oil drops after OPEC+ reaffirms supply return as demand wavers

 

Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC+ agreed to keep its policy of gradually returning supply to the market at a time when coronavirus cases around the world are surging and many U.S. refiners, a key source of crude demand, remained offline.

 

Brent crude was down by 15 cents, or 0.2%, at $71.44 a barrel by 0650 GMT, after dropping 4 cents on Wednesday. U.S. oil fell 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $68.39 a barrel, after rising 9 cents in the previous session.

 

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia, together known as OPEC+, agreed on Wednesday to continue a policy of phasing out record production reductions by adding 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) each month to the market.

 

However, OPEC+ raised its demand forecast for 2022 while also facing pressure to accelerate production increases from the Biden administration, which said it was "glad" the group had reaffirmed its commitment to raising supply.

 

U.S. crude inventories dropped by 7.2 million barrels and petroleum products supplied by refiners rose to a record despite the increase in coronavirus infections across the country, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

 

·         U.S. offshore oil output inches back as infrastructure woes slow recovery

 

·         Saudi Arabia may cut October crude prices for Asia

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to cut prices for most crude grades it sells to Asia in October after Middle East benchmark Dubai weakened last month, a poll of six refiners showed.

The official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude is expected to fall by 20-40 cents a barrel in October, tracking a 17-cent drop in Dubai's market structure, four of the respondents said. The remaining two expect prices to drop more than $1 a barrel.