Oil Prices Slide as Brent, WTI Record Sharp Losses
Global crude oil prices dropped on Wednesday, with Brent crude down $1.17 (1.69%) to $67.97 per barrel and U.S. WTI shedding $1.21 (1.84%) to $64.38 per barrel by mid-afternoon trading.
The decline came ahead of a key OPEC+ meeting scheduled for the weekend, where eight member states and allies are expected to discuss further supply increases in October.
Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the group may accelerate the easing of production cuts, targeting an additional 1.65 million barrels per day—about 1.6% of global demand.
The bloc, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s crude, has already committed to lifting output by 2.2 million barrels per day between April and September, alongside a 300,000 bpd quota for the UAE.
Analyst Ole Hvalbye of SEB Bank warned that if these new quotas are enforced, the market could swing into surplus from late 2025 into 2026, unless fresh restraints are introduced.
However, actual production has often fallen short of quotas, as some members struggle with capacity limitations or attempt to compensate for past overproduction.
Adding to the downward pressure on prices was weaker U.S. economic data, which showed job openings in July declined more than expected to 7.181 million. Meanwhile, U.S. manufacturing contracted for the sixth straight month.
The benchmarks had risen earlier in the week after Washington imposed sanctions on a shipping network accused of disguising Iranian oil as Iraqi crude.
