(Bloomberg) — Oil advanced ahead of this week’s meeting of the OPEC+ producer bloc, following recent signals that supply and demand are returning to balance.
Futures in New York were up 0.7%, after dipping 0.5% on Friday. The U.S. benchmark has rallied more 4% in the past two weeks, with American crude stockpiles declining after imports from Saudi Arabia dropped and gasoline consumption rose. Adding to support, some data points show bright spots in the economic outlook, with U.S. industrial production increasing for a third straight month in July.
Oil retreated on Friday after the U.S. and China postponed talks planned for over the weekend that had been aimed at reviewing progress at the six-month mark of their phase-one trade agreement. Meanwhile, a rebound in U.S. retail sales slowed sharply in July amid a surge in Covid-19 and still-high unemployment, underlining uncertainty over the strength of the economic recovery.
OPEC+ alliance member Oman exported 14% less oil in July than it did the previous month, the Arab Peninsula nation’s Ministry of Oil & Gas said in a statement. Global producers began to taper historic production cuts this month and OPEC+’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee is tentatively expected to hold an online meeting on Wednesday to discuss the state of the market.
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Iran’s state energy firm, National Iranian Oil Co., will sign $1.5 billion euros-worth ($1.8 billion) of agreements with two of its subsidiaries on Monday to raise and maintain output across more than a dozen onshore and offshore crude deposits.
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