Overview

• Brent hovered around $67 and WTI near $64 in thin trading due to a U.S. holiday after both benchmarks fell more than 6% in August.
• Markets are focused on next week’s OPEC+ gathering for signals on continued output increases and the risk of a surplus highlighted by the IEA.
• Concerns over Russian exports persisted, with weekly shipments from its ports slipping to about 2.72 million barrels per day as cross-border strikes escalated.
• U.S. secondary tariffs aimed at India’s purchases of Russian crude added uncertainty as Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Vladimir Putin at a summit in China.
• U.S. production hit a record 13.58 million barrels per day in June and China’s factory activity contracted for a fifth month, with a U.S. jobs report now eyed for demand cues.