In a reversal from the notable gains of the previous session, crude oil prices experienced a significant decline on Friday.
October delivery crude fell by $2.36, or 3.1%, settling at $73.55 per barrel. This drop followed a robust increase of $1.39, or 1.9%, which brought prices to $75.91 per barrel on Thursday.
The sharp decline on Friday resulted in crude oil prices decreasing by 1.7% over the week and dropping 3.6% for the month of August.
The downturn was driven by a Reuters report indicating that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) are set to proceed with a planned increase in oil output starting October.
Despite recent concerns about demand impacting oil prices and casting doubt on the continuation of this plan, six sources within OPEC+ confirmed to Reuters that the production increase would go ahead as scheduled.
Reuters highlighted that the decision will lead to eight OPEC+ members raising output by 180,000 barrels per day in October, amidst ongoing Libyan outages and voluntary cuts by certain members.
