Oil steadies after falling to four-year lows in earlier session

By Arathy Somasekhar

(Reuters) – Oil steadied on Tuesday after hitting four-year lows within the earlier session that was pushed by an OPEC+ choice to speed up output will increase, stoking fears of oversupply at a time when U.S. tariffs have spurred issues about demand.

Brent crude futures rose 10 cents to $60.33 a barrel by 0050 GMT, whereas U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude added 10 cents to $57.23 a barrel.

Each benchmarks had settled at their lowest since February 2021 on Monday.

OPEC+ agreed on Saturday to additional velocity up oil manufacturing hikes for a second consecutive month, elevating output in June by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The June enhance by eight members within the OPEC+ group, which incorporates allies akin to Russia, will take the entire mixed hikes for April, Might and June to 960,000 bpd. That represents a 44% unwinding of the two.2 million bpd of varied cuts agreed on since 2022, based on Reuters calculations.

The group may totally unwind its voluntary cuts by the tip of October if members don’t enhance compliance with their manufacturing quotas, OPEC+ sources instructed Reuters.

U.S. shale producer Diamondback Power lowered its output forecast for 2025 on Monday and mentioned {that a} mixture of world financial uncertainty and rising OPEC+ provide has introduced U.S. oil manufacturing to a tipping level.

In the meantime, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned on Monday President Donald Trump’s tariff, tax-cut and deregulation agenda would work collectively to drive long-term funding within the U.S. financial system, including that U.S. monetary markets had been “anti-fragile” and would climate any short-term turbulence.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will doubtless go away rates of interest unchanged on Wednesday as tariffs roil the financial outlook.

Barclays lowered its Brent crude forecast on Monday by $4 to $70 a barrel for 2025 and set its 2026 estimate at $62 a barrel, citing “a rocky highway forward for fundamentals” amid escalating commerce tensions and OPEC+’s pivot in its manufacturing technique.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Modifying by Muralikumar Anantharaman)