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Crude remains elevated after OPEC surprise
Crude oil prices edged lower Friday, but remained at very high levels after a meeting of top producers failed to agree on future production levels.
By 6:30 AM ET, U.S. crude was down 0.2% at $75.09 a barrel, after climbing above $75 during the previous session for the first time since 2018, while Brent was down 0.3% at $75.63, after adding more than 8% last month.
The alliance between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and others, most notably Russia, postponed its decision on Thursday to return more oil to the market after the United Arab Emirates blocked the deal at the last minute.
The group, known as OPEC+, appeared to have come to a preliminary agreement to boost output by 400,000 barrels a day each month from August to December before the UAE intervened, demanding a higher production quota.
The meeting will be reconvened Friday, but if there isn’t an agreement then the group would continue with current production levels, a situation that would most likely lead to still-higher prices and a rapid breakdown in production discipline across the bloc.