SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday after OPEC+ talks were called off just as global fuel demand recovers.
Brent crude climbed 33 cents to $77.49 a barrel by 0647 GMT, after gaining 1.3% on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $76.71 a barrel, up $1.55.
Both benchmarks hit their highest since 2018 on expectations that supplies will tighten.
Ministers of OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, called off output talks, after clashing last week when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) rejected a proposed eight-month extension to production curbs, meaning no deal to boost output has been agreed.
“Expectations of OPEC+ not adding the extra supply to the market from August lent support on Monday, but investors are not keen to move in either direction from here due to uncertainty over actual actions by the OPEC+ members from next month,” Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at commodities broker Fujitomi Co., told Reuters.
OPEC+ agreed on record output cuts in 2020 to cope with a COVID 19-induced price crash.
