Analysts expect Saudi Arabia to extend its voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day for another month to include September to provide additional support for the market during a virtual meeting with other major producers set for Friday.
In June, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia, known as OPEC+ agreed on a broad deal to limit oil supply into 2024, and Saudi Arabia pledged an additional voluntary cut for July. On July 3, Saudi Arabia said the cut would include August, adding that it could be extended further.
The data showing the supply cuts coincided with U.S. figures released on Monday showing fuel demand rose to 20.78 million bpd in May, the highest since August 2019. The data from the Energy Information Administration also showed gasoline demand, expressed as product supplied to the market, surged to 9.11 million bpd, the highest since June 2022.
U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles were expected to have declined last week, according to a Reuters poll which estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 900,000 barrels in the week to July 28.Subscribe to our daily newsletter