Oil prices rise after OPEC+ suspends output hikes in Q1 2026

Oil prices increased on Monday, November 3, 2025, after OPEC+ decided to hold off production hikes in the first quarter of 2026.

Brent crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.37%, to $65.01 a barrel by 0424 GMT after closing 7 cents higher on Friday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $61.19 a barrel, up 21 cents, or 0.34%, after settling up 41 cents in the previous session.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to raise output by 137,000 barrels per day in December, the same as for October and November.

“Beyond December, due to seasonality, the eight countries also decided to pause the production increments in January, February, and March 2026,” the group said in a statement.

BUA Foods overtakes Dangote Cement, MTN as NGX’s most valuable stock

ING’s Head of Commodities Research Warren Patterson said the OPEC+ decision appears to be an acknowledgment of the large surplus that the market faces, particularly through early next year.

“Obviously, still plenty of uncertainty over the scale of the surplus, which will be dependent on how disruptive U.S. sanctions will be to Russian oil flows,” Patterson added.

Brent and WTI both fell more than 2% in October, down for a third straight month, hitting a five-month low on October 20 on the supply glut fears and economic concerns about U.S. tariffs.

Analysts are holding their oil price forecasts largely unchanged as rising OPEC+ output and lacklustre demand offset geopolitical risks to supply, a Reuters poll showed.

Estimates of oil market surplus ranged anywhere from 190,000 to 3 million bpd.

The Star