Oil Market Gauges Show Looser Balances as OPEC+ Hikes Output

Key oil indicators are signaling looser balances ahead, after OPEC and its allies shocked the market with a dramatic early supply increase just as concerns over global demand become more acute.

Timespreads across the curve for global benchmark Brent were weaker, with the collapse more pronounced for longer-dated futures. The three-month spread, for instance, stood at $1.66 a barrel in backwardation — where crude for prompt delivery is more expensive than that further down the curve — on Friday at 8:33 a.m. London time, compared with over $2 earlier in the week.