Oil prices saw a slight uptick on Monday after OPEC+ postponed its decision to raise production during the first quarter of next year, easing concerns of excess global supply. However, weak performance across Asian manufacturing hubs limited the upward movement.
Benchmark Brent crude rose by 24 cents to reach $65.01 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased by 21 cents, trading at $61.19 per barrel.
OPEC and its allied producers announced on Sunday that they would increase output in December by 137,000 barrels per day—matching the levels set for October and November. However, the group decided to defer any further production increase for the January–March 2026 period.
According to Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Research at ING, the decision reflects the group’s acknowledgment that the market will likely face significant oversupply early next year. He added that the extent of this surplus will depend largely on how strongly U.S. sanctions impact Russian oil shipments.
Sources noted that Russia remains an unpredictable factor in global supply, especially after renewed U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as repeated attacks on energy infrastructure during the Ukraine war.
Both Brent and WTI prices fell over 2% in October, marking their third consecutive monthly decline.
Meanwhile, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. oil production rose to a record 13.8 million barrels per day in August.
Business surveys indicated that manufacturing activity across major Asian economies continued to slow in October, as weakening U.S. demand and President Donald Trump’s tariff policies weighed heavily on factory orders.
