Oil prices ease after OPEC+ agrees to taper oil supply curbs
Oil prices eased on Thursday after OPEC and allies such as Russia agreed to taper record supply curbs from August, though the drop was cushioned by hopes for a swift US demand pick-up after a big drawdown from the country’s crude stocks.
Brent crude fell 33 cents, or 0.8%, to $43.46 a barrel by 0646 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 42 cents, or 1.0%, to $40.78 a barrel. Prices rose 2% the previous day, helped by the US crude inventories drop.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Wednesday to scale back oil production cuts from August as the global economy slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
