Oil Heads for Weekly Loss as Traders Weigh Iran, OPEC+ Outlooks
(Bloomberg) -- Oil headed for the first back-to-back weekly drop this year as traders weighed the prospect of expanded OPEC+ supplies against US-Iran nuclear talks and recent weakness in wider markets.
West Texas Intermediate is down about 1.2% for the week and was little changed on Friday. President Donald Trump told reporters that “they’ll be leaving soon,” likely referring to some US forces in the Middle East, if a nuclear deal is reached between the US and Iran. A second aircraft carrier strike group is still expected to head to the oil-rich region, AFP reported.
The compounded bearish momentum after OPEC+ members see scope for output increases to resume in April, believing concerns about a glut are overblown, delegates said. The group hasn’t yet committed to any course of action or begun formal discussions for a March 1 meeting, they added.
Limiting downward momentum, fresh data revealed that US inflation was fairly tame at the start of the year, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will deliver more interest-rate cuts.
A second weekly decline in the futures market stands to snap a long run of gains for early 2026, when recurrent bouts of geopolitical tension including the US stand-off with Iran supported oil prices.
At an energy conference in London this week, attendees flagged that they expect worldwide supplies to top demand this year, potentially feeding into higher inventories in the Atlantic basin, the region where global prices are set. Still, a pile-up of sanctioned oil coupled with supply disruptions in various nations has limited the impact thus far.
Investors are also continuing to watch efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trading may be thinner ahead of the Presidents’ Day holiday in the US, contributing to exaggerated price swings.
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