By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil closed on a positive note on Friday, October 29 supported by expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies, jointly known as OPEC+, would maintain production cuts.
Brent crude rose by 6 cents or 0.07 per cent to close at $84.38 per barrel, while the United States benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), gained 76 cents or 0.92 per cent to end at $83.57 per barrel.
Even as Iranian supply may come online, it looks like OPEC+ is unlikely to raise production which has strengthened the market.
The 23-man alliance has faced calls from big consumers, such as the United States and India, for extra supplies after oil prices surged more than 50 per cent this year but it has insisted that the best thing to do would be to stick to its current arrangement.
At the meeting for October, OPEC+ reconfirmed the production adjustment plan, referring to a previously agreed deal under which 400,000 barrels per day would be added in November.
Prices started October at below $80 a barrel. But OPEC+ keeping supply tight, rebounding global demand, and the rally in other energy commodities pushed prices to multi-year highs in the month.
By the middle of October, WTI Crude prices had already hit the highest level since October 2014 while the international benchmark hit a high of $86 per barrel at $86.10 last seen in October 2018.
The natural gas crisis in Europe and record-high prices of LNG and coal in Asia also contributed to driving oil prices higher in October.
The alliance, which is gradually unwinding last year’s record output cuts, meets on Thursday, November 4.
Meanwhile, industry stocks globally and in the United States have continued to draw down in recent weeks.
The latest data from the US showed that crude stocks rose by 4.3 million barrels in the latest week.
Amid the rise, Iran said talks on reviving the international deal on its nuclear programme will restart by the end of November, bringing it a step closer to boosting oil exports, a move that eased concerns about the supply situation of the market.
US energy firms added oil and natural gas rigs for the 15th month in a row in October as oil prices soared to fresh seven-year highs, spurred by rising oil prices to their highest since count April 2020, data showed.
