Oil eases lower as OPEC+ said to weigh another production hike in December

[Data analyzing in commodities energy market: the charts and quotes on display. US WTI crude oil price analysis. Stunning price drop for the last 20 years.]
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Crude oil futures edged lower for a second straight session on Monday with the boost from last week’s Russia sanctions losing steam, as reports said OPEC+ is leaning towards making another modest increase [https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-leaning-towards-another-small-oil-output-increase-sources-say-2025-10-27/] in oil production for December when the group meets on Sunday.

OPEC+ reportedly looks likely to agree to a third monthly increase of 137,000 bbl/day, although the group has found the most recent monthly increases more difficult to agree because sanctions are making it difficult for Russia to find buyers for additional output.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said over the weekend that U.S. and Chinese officials had reached a "substantial framework" for a trade deal that could avoid 100% U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, but some analysts said optimism over U.S.-China trade talks made little impact on oil prices.

"While the futures market has added in additional trade with China and less crude exports from Russia, traders remain cautious as to how much this will actually affect global supplies," Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial said in a note.

In the meantime, crude traders are waiting for clarity on the impact of the Trump administration's move to sanction Russia's top two oil producers, as Trump seeks to end the war in Ukraine.

"Markets are waiting for more direction on whether the impact of sanctions scheduled to take effect from November 21 will truly actualize," June Goh of Sparta Commodities said in a note. "After all, Russia has operated before on E.U. sanctions so they may yet find ways to get their oil to China and India without relying on USD as a means of transaction."

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CL1:COM]) for December delivery finished -0.3% to $61.31/bbl, and front-month Brent December crude (CO1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CO1:COM]) ended -0.5% to $65.62/bbl, while U.S. natural gas futures (NG1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NG1:COM]) snapped a three-session losing streak as weekend weather forecasts added more demand to the outlook for early November, with the front-month Nymex November contract closed +4.2% at $3.442/MMBtu.

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