By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Oil prices came off their highs on Thursday after OPEC+, presumably emboldened by the market’s runaway rally, were reported to be mulling a higher production than initially planned for coming months.
OPEC+ — comprising the 13-member Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a group of 10 other producers steered by Russia — is considering going beyond its existing deal to boost production by 400,000 barrels when it meets next week, sources familiar with the alliance’s thinking were reported saying.
The move was against a backdrop of a near three-year high in oil prices and pressure from consumers for more supply, the sources said.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. oil, which reached a session high of $76.07 per barrel on Thursday, hovered at just around $75 by 1:55 PM ET (17:55 GMT).
London-traded Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, spiked to $79.30 earlier in the session, before easing to $78.26.