DTN Oil Update
Oil Rises as OPEC+ Pauses Hikes Amid Supply Risk Woes
VIENNA (DTN) -- Oil prices rose Monday morning after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their partners on Sunday agreed to keep oil output steady in the first quarter of 2026, and an attack on export terminals halted loadings of Kazakh crude oil.
The NYMEX WTI contract for January delivery advanced $0.59 barrel (bbl) to $59.14 bbl, and ICE Brent for February delivery rose by $0.58 to $62.96 bbl.
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January RBOB gasoline futures advanced $0.0268 to $1.8483 gallon, and front-month ULSD futures rose $0.0373 to $2.3404 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index softened by 0.323 points to 99.085 against a basket of foreign currencies.
OPEC+'s move was widely expected. While the producer group justified the pause in further output hikes with seasonally weaker demand, it was also interpreted as an acknowledgment of the global market slipping into and staying in oversupply throughout next year.
Meanwhile, a pipeline transporting Kazakh crude oil to Black Sea terminals was halted Saturday after an attack damaged a mooring at the Russian port of Novorossiysk. This marked the first time CPC exports, averaging 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), were affected by Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Loadings have resumed late Sunday at one of the two undamaged moorings. Ukraine over the weekend also reported to have struck another Russian refinery.
Ukrainian and U.S. officials reported "progress" in negotiations that took place over the weekend, but reemphasized that some key issues have yet to be resolved.
Increasing U.S. pressure on oil exporter Venezuela provided additional tailwind to prices. U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday declared Venezuelan airspace "closed in its entirety" in a social media post. On Thursday, Trump said the U.S. would start military land operations "very soon."