SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices fell over 1.5 percent on Monday as traders factored in an expected output increase that was agreed at the headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna on Friday.
Despite this, analysts said global oil markets would likely remain relatively tight this year.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $74.27 per barrel at 0402 GMT, down 1.7 percent from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $68.41 a barrel, down 0.25 percent, supported more than Brent by a slight drop in U.S. drilling activity and a Canadian supply outage.
Prices initially jumped after the OPEC deal was announced late last week as it was not seen boosting supply by as much as some had expected.
OPEC and non-OPEC partners including Russia have since 2017 cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to tighten the market and prop up prices.
Largely because of unplanned disruptions in places like Venezuela and Angola, the group’s output has been below the targeted cuts, which it now says will be reversed by supply rises, especially from OPEC leader Saudi Arabia. Although analysts warn there is little space capacity for large-scale output increases.
“Saturday’s OPEC+ press conference provided more clarity on the decision to increase production, with guidance for a full 1 million bpd ramp-up in 2H18,” Goldman Sachs said in a note on Sunday.
“This is a larger increase than presented Friday although the goal remains to stabilize inventories, not generate a surplus,” the U.S. bank added.
Britain’s Barclays bank said OPEC’s and Russia’s
