Brent crude settled up $1.30, or 1.6%, at $82.56. Oil prices have already surged more than 50% this year, adding to inflationary pressures that crude-consuming nations such as the United States and India are concerned will derail recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Late last month, the OPEC+ Joint Technical Committee (JTC) said it expected a 1.1 million bpd supply deficit this year, which could turn into a 1.4 million bpd surplus next year. Despite pressure to ramp up output, OPEC+ was concerned that a fourth global wave of COVID-19 infections could hit the demand recovery, a source told Reuters a little before Monday's talks. U.S. crude oil and distillate inventories are likely to have fallen last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed.- Reuters

Source: The Star October 05, 2021 18:56 UTC