Oil Up After OPEC+ Decides to Keep Supply Steady

Oil was up Friday morning in Asia, clawing back some recent losses after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) ignored call to raise supply and opted to continue with a more gradual return of output.

Brent oil futures rose 0.97% to $81.32 by 11:31 PM ET (3:31 AM GMT) after falling almost 2% on Thursday. WTI futures jumped 1.09% to $79.67 after declining 2.5% during the previous session.

OPEC+ agreed on Thursday to stick to their plan to raise oil output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) from December at its latest meeting on Thursday.

"This was an easy and quick OPEC+ meeting on output. At no point did OPEC+ consider changing their output strategy, which was completely the message they had," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya told Reuters.

Continuous COVID-19 outbreaks contributed to OPEC+’s cautious approach, with a global supply crunch also exacerbating the tightness in the oil market, while some OPEC members failing to reach their output targets has put additional pressure on crude supply.

The cartel ignored calls from U.S. President Joe Biden for extra output to cool rising prices, who was seeking an increase of as much as double the agreed amount. The U.S. is also among key consumers who previously mulled tapping their own strategic reserves should OPEC+ did not increase production.

OPEC+ has been restricting supply due to COVID-19's impact on fuel demand. Although the black liquid recently hit seven-year highs, it fell earlier in the week as the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a build in U.S. crude oil supplies.