Crude prices closed below $120 a barrel on Monday, after Saudi Arabia raised oil prices for July and amid doubts that an increase in OPEC+’s monthly production target would help ease tight supply.
Brent crude fell 21 cents, or 0.18%, to $119.51 a barrel, after hitting an intraday high of $121.95. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 37 cents, or 0.31%, to $118.50 a barrel, after hitting a three-month high of $120.99.
The Mexican export mix, for its part, fell 0.04%, or 0.05 cents, to 112.75 dollars a barrel.
Saudi Arabia raised the official July selling price of its flagship Arabian Light Crude to Asia by $2.10 from June, to a premium of $6.50, the highest since May, when prices hit record highs on concern. by the interruption of supplies from Russia.
The price increase came after the decision adopted last week by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to increase production in July and August by 648,000 barrels per day (bpd), that is, 50% more than expected. .
“With only a handful of OPEC+ participants with spare capacity, we expect production growth to be 160,000 barrels per day in July and 170,000 in August,” analysts at JP Morgan said.
Citibank and Barclays raised their forecasts for 2022 and 2023, saying they expect Russian output and exports to fall by around 1-1.5 million bpd by the end of 2022.