Oil Price Jumps To $72 Amid Improved Demand

OPEC+ Maintains Monthly Crude Oil Output Increase At 400,000bpd

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after reaching a record low of $68 per barrel two days ago amid improved demand and a rise in United States crude inventories.

Brent crude, against which Nigeria’s crude is priced, rose by $3.27 to $71.9 per barrel at 5:40am Nigerian time on Wednesday, having hit a session low of $68.63 per barrel.

The price of crude oil prices had on Monday dropped by 5 percent WTI Crude slipping to $67 per barrel, after OPEC+ reached a decision to start returning 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the market every month beginning in August until it unwinds all the 5.8 million bpd cuts.

Even though OPEC+ has decided to add more supply in each of the coming months, many analysts believe that the market will remain relatively tight because demand will keep growing.

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During the second-quarter earnings call, Baker Hughes CEO, Lorenzo Simonelli, said that the oil price environment looks “constructive” amid increasing demand and a conservative supply-side response from US shale producers.

According to him, the producers are likely to maintain the spending discipline they have developed through nearly 18 months of austerity during the pandemic

US investment bank, Goldman Sachs, also continues to be bullish on oil and even sees the OPEC+ deal as having a $2 per barrel upside to its $80 a barrel Brent outlook for this summer.   .

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