Crude oil futures traded lower on Friday morning after a media report said that the OPEC+ (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies) is considering an increase in production in July.

At 9.57 am on Friday, July Brent oil futures were at $64.15 down by 0.45 per cent, and July crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $60.92, down by 0.46 per cent. June crude oil futures were trading at ₹5243 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹5,265, down by 0.42 per cent, and July futures were trading at ₹5,222 against the previous close of ₹5,241, down by 0.36 per cent.

A Bloomberg report said that the June 1 meeting of the OPEC+ would consider another large production increase. However, the report said that final agreement has not yet been reached on this. An increase in production would lead to a decline in the prices of the commodity.

In their Commodities Feed for Friday, Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Strategy of ING Think, and Ewa Manthey, Commodities Strategist, said the oil market is under renewed pressure as noise builds around what OPEC+ will do with their July output levels. A production increase in July would cement the shift in policy from the group — moving from defending prices to defending market share. “In our balance sheet, we assume that OPEC+ will go ahead with a 4,11,000 barrels per day supply increase for July. Therefore, our price forecasts will remain unchanged if an increase of this size is confirmed at the beginning of next month. We currently forecast Brent to average $59 a barrel in the fourth quarter,” they said.

Market reports said that crude storage demand in the US has increased to the levels last seen during the pandemic, as traders get ready for surge in supplies from OPEC+ in the coming months.

ING Think’s Commodities Feed said that G7 finance ministers have threatened further sanctions against Russia if no progress is made towards a peace deal with Ukraine. In addition, the EU is throwing around the idea of lowering the G7 price cap for Russian oil to $50 a barrel from $60 a barrel, it said.

June natural gas futures were trading at ₹316.30 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹313.80, up by 0.80 per cent.

On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), June dhaniya contracts were trading at ₹7100 in the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹7058, up by 0.60 per cent.

June turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹14090 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹14184, down by 0.66 per cent.

Published on May 23, 2025