Oil Prices Stumble On OPEC+ Output Increase Headlines

The crude market was slow to react to OPEC+ headlines this morning, but is sliding now (ahead of this morning’s inventory/production data) after Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister reportedly said OPEC and its allies will restore some oil supplies as planned next month, but the impact will be “barely felt” as demand recovers from the coronavirus crisis.

Bloomberg reports that the 23-nation coalition led by Riyadh and Moscow will taper the curbs to 7.7 million barrels a day in August from 9.6 million currently, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.

And that has sent prices notably lower, erasing the API-driven spike last night…

That supply increase will be offset somewhat as coalition members that didn’t fulfill their commitments to cut output in May and June – such as Iraq and Nigeria – make up for it with extra reductions in August and September, the Prince said at the start of an OPEC+ video conference.

This is terrible news for US shale.