Oil Prices Accelerate Rise As OPEC+ Calls Off Output Talks

• Oil prices rose on Monday, driven higher after OPEC+ nations called off talks on output levels, meaning no deal to boost production has been agreed. Brent was up 94 cents, or 1.2%, at $77.11 a barrel, trading around 2-1/2 year highs. U.S. oil gained $1.11, or 1.5%, to $76.27 a barrel. 
• OPEC+ ministers abandoned the talks and set no new date to resume them, after clashing last week when the United Arab Emirates rebuffed a proposed eight-month extension to output curbs. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on record output cuts in 2020 to cope with a COVID-induced price crash. 
• The producers have been gradually easing the output restrictions, but a plan on Friday to lift output by about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) from August to December 2021 and to extend the pact on a series of gradual output shifts to the end of 2022 was blocked by the UAE. 
• The prospect of OPEC+ not adding the extra barrels to the market next month boosted prices, but also added volatility, said Rystad Energy oil markets analyst Louise Dickson, noting that prices briefly turned negative.

(Source: Reuters)