Brent heads for $82/bl as Opec+ holds steady

The cartel dashes expectations it might boost production ahead of schedule

Opec+ decided on Monday to continue into November with its plans to return 400,000bl/d per month to the market, amid speculation that soaring oil prices could have incentivised it to amend the proposal it made back in April. Brent crude surged back above the $80/bl mark to threaten $82/bl in Monday afternoon trading as the market digested the news that there would be no earlier restoration of production. “The Opec+ decision to continue with existing increments is likely to be supportive for oil prices in the immediate term,” Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy, and Wenyu Yao, senior commodities strategist, at bank ING had forecast ahead of the decision, while flagging that “a one-