Oil Prices Steady as OPEC+ Sub-Group Shifts Meeting

Brent crude futures shed 4 cents to close at $64.74 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures remained unchanged at $61.53 a barrel.

The market also did not move much because of the Memorial Day holiday in the US.

The OPEC+ subset on Monday changed the date for the meeting where it will likely decide on July output.

There are reports that the meeting will entail another 411,000 barrels per day of production.

The meeting is separate from the online ministerial meeting of OPEC+ set for May 28.

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday that OPEC+ has not yet discussed hiking output by another 411,000 barrels per day ahead of its meeting.

US President Donald Trump said he agreed to extend a deadline for trade talks with the European Union until July 9, marking another temporary trade policy ease.

The American President had said on Friday said he was recommending a 50 per cent tariff effective from June 1, expressing frustration that trade negotiations with the EU were not moving quickly enough.

The threat had affected the global financial markets and intensified a trade war that has seen frequent changes in tariff policies toward US trading partners and allies.

President Trump relented after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told him on Sunday that the EU needed more time to come to an agreement.

He had previously set a 90-day window for trade talks between the EU and the US, which was to end on July 9. However, on Friday, he upended that time frame and said he wasn’t interested in a deal at all.

The extension eased concerns that US tariffs on the EU could hit fuel demand.

Also, the US President expressed anger after Russia unleashed the largest aerial attack of the war on Ukraine, saying he was weighing new sanctions on the Vladimir Putin-led country.