Oil Prices Surge 3% as OPEC+ Agrees on Easing Production Cut amid a Recovery in Demand
Oil prices surged on June 1 after OPEC+ agreed on the production increase as planned amid a recovery in demand from vaccine rollout.
OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, in the meeting on June 1, 2021, agreed to ramp up the oil production within its group as oil prices rebounded amid a recovery in demand.
The group decided in April to increase the production by 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) during May to July in anticipation of higher demand for oil consumption after a wide range of Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
As of 21:40 local time in Thailand, the international benchmark Brent Crude rose 2.71% to trade at $71.20/bbl, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 3.57% to trade at $68.69/bbl.
As for the plan moving forward, the group has yet to decide and will meet in July to do so.
In 2020, OPEC+ decided to curb the production by a record 9.7 million bpd due to a diminishing demand when the Covid-19 outbreak first struck. The oil prices even plunged into a negative territory in May after investors almost failed to sell their contract before the delivery date, causing a panic sell and plunged oil prices into negative territory.