Oil holds losses as tension builds ahead of OPEC+ meeting

Oil held a two-day drop ahead of an OPEC+ meeting that may see the group sign off on another supply hike.

Brent traded near $67 a barrel and is down about 1.7% this week. The alliance will hold a virtual meeting September 7 to decide its next move after completing the restart of 2.5 million barrels a day of idled supply at its previous gathering.

“If the eight OPEC+ countries were to agree on another production increase, we believe this would place significant downward pressure on oil prices,” Commerzbank analysts Barbara Lambrecht and Carsten Fritsch wrote in a note. “After all, there is already a significant risk of a supply surplus.”

Brent crude futures have retreated by about 10% this year after the shift by OPEC+ — coupled with supply increases from drillers outside the group — exacerbated concerns about a global glut. Market sentiment has also been weighed down by growing worries over energy demand, driven in part by the impact of trade tariffs introduced by the Trump administration.

Prices have fallen in recent days following a report that OPEC and its allies would consider fresh hikes at their weekend meeting. But Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak subsequently said nations involved didn’t have an agenda, Tass reported. “We always look at the current situation as a whole,” Novak was quoted as saying. “Based on that, we resolve issues on the spot.”

Geopolitical tensions have also been in focus this week, with the US looking to pressure buyers of Russian crude to push Moscow into agreeing on a truce in Ukraine. As part of that effort, Washington has imposed a 50% levy on some imports from India. Separately, President Donald Trump told European leaders to stop buying Russian oil, addressing them during a call, Reuters reported.

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