Oil prices fell nearly 1% on Monday after Iraq’s Kurdistan region resumed crude exports via Turkey over the weekend and as OPEC+ prepared another production hike in November, adding to global supply.
Brent crude futures dropped 63 cents, or 0.90%, to $69.50 a barrel by 0023 GMT, after closing at their highest since 31 July on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid 65 cents, or 0.99%, to $65.07 a barrel, giving back most of Friday’s gains.
“Ongoing fears of production increase are limiting gains, but a tight near-term outlook has crude prices in a vice as the trading week begins,” said Michael McCarthy, CEO of investor platform Moomoo Australia and New Zealand.
Crude exports resumed on Saturday through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey, the first such flows in 2-1/2 years. The restart followed an interim deal involving Iraq’s federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and foreign oil producers, Iraq’s oil ministry said.
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The agreement allows 180,000–190,000 barrels per day (bpd) to flow to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, Iraq’s oil minister told Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw. The volumes could eventually rise to 230,000 bpd, after U.S. pressure for a restart.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ is expected to approve a crude output hike of at least 137,000 bpd at its meeting on Sunday, three sources familiar with the talks said. The group has been producing nearly 500,000 bpd below target, defying market expectations of a supply glut.
Brent and WTI both gained more than 4% last week, their biggest weekly rise since June, after Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure cut fuel exports. On Sunday, Russia launched one of its most sustained attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities since the war began.
