Oil prices drop on oversupply concerns as OPEC output increases in July – Reuters

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, with Brent futures set for their biggest monthly loss in two years, as oversupply concerns rose after a Reuters survey showed OPEC output rose in July to its highest for 2018.

September Brent crude futures fell 25 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $74.72 a barrel by 0654 GMT after rising nearly 1 percent on Monday. The September contract expires later on Tuesday and the more-active October contract was down 0.3 percent at $75.35.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) were down 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $69.88 a barrel, after rising more than 2 percent in the previous session.

For the month, Brent futures are set to drop about 6 percent, the most since July 2016, while WTI futures set to decline 5.8 percent, the biggest monthly drop since October 2017. The Reuters survey showed OPEC increased production 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 32.64 million bpd in July, the most this year.

The group has pledged to offset the loss of Iranian supply as looming sanctions have already started to cut exports from OPEC’s third-largest producer. U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to soften his approach to Iran, saying on Monday he would meet with President Hassan Rouhani without any preconditions.