Crude oil prices climb as OPEC+ signals tweak in output curbs, Brent crosses $80/barrel. Details here

Crude oil rates, which began falling after a key OPEC+ meeting held on Sunday, have recovered over the past two trading sessions. The benchmark Brent crossed the $80 per barrel mark in the early trade on Friday, as the oil producing cartel signalled that it may tweak its supply policy to address market concerns.

Brent crude futures rose 0.2% or 16 cents to trade at $80.03 per barrel at 0007 hours GMT. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures also rose 0.2% to trade at $75.71 per barrel.

At India’s Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude futures for July delivery were trading 0.02% higher at Rs 6,323 per barrel at 9:45 am.

What OPEC+ said

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) said it would review its decision taken last week to ease production curbs.

"We are ready to react quickly to market uncertainties," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday at an event in Russia, where he was accompanied by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

In the OPEC+ meeting held in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh on June 2, it was decided to extend the group's cumulative production cut of 1.7 million barrels per day into 2025. The output cut was earlier planned till only December 31, 2024.

Separately, a smaller group of OPEC+ members, which includes its de-facto leader and largest oil producer Saudi Arabia, will continue their additional production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day till September 2025. This set of output cut was earlier scheduled to end in June-end.

Novak, while speaking to reporters on Thursday, said the decision to ease the additional voluntary output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day could be paused or reversed if the market is not receptive to it.

ECB cuts interest rate

One of the key factors that drove the crude rate upwards was the decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) to slash key lending rates by 25 basis points to 3.75% from 4%.

The decision, which is aimed at spurring demand and reversing the recessionary trends seen in Europe, could compel the US Federal Reserve to expedite its move towards a rate cut cycle, analysts said. A decrease in interest rate by major central banks is expected to boost economic activity, which in turn would raise oil consumption.