Global oil prices moved sharply higher this week after the IMF raised its global economic growth forecast and US President Donald Trump struck a firmer tone on Russia. Despite lingering doubts about the strength of the recovery and skepticism over how far Mr Trump will go in confronting Moscow, this was enough to push Brent crude above $72/B, from $68/B at the end of last week.
Oil prices are now at their highest levels since Q1 – excluding the brief spike during the 12-day Israel-Iran war – and this comes at a convenient time for Opec+ producers. The Opec+ ‘Group of Eight’ subset is scheduled to meet on 3 August to decide whether to unwind the final portion of 2.2mn b/d voluntary cuts in September. The group is widely expected to complete the job and agree to increase output by 547,000 b/d (see chart and table), although in reality the increase will be considerably less due to a combination of continued overproduction by some and compensation for previous overproduction by others. (CONTINUED - 958 WORDS)
