Oil at three-month low
Oil traded at a three-month low as the market showed signs of weakness. Brent crude was little changed around $81 a barrel, while U.S. crude was below $77. Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. is generally seen as the start of the heaviest U.S. driving season, so investors will be watching to gauge the demand outlook. Crude is still higher this year, in part because of OPEC+’s production cuts, but futures have eased since mid-April. The OPEC+ alliance is expected to meet on June 1 and generally extend current output cuts through the second half of 2024. The group is holding back about 2 million barrels of oil a day this year. “The upcoming OPEC+ meeting will help ease uncertainty about supply,” said Zhou Mi, an analyst at the Chaos Research Institute in Shanghai, adding that U.S. demand is recovering and should receive support from the summer travel season.