Oil steadied after last week’s drop as traders look ahead to several industry reports and a U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rates.

Brent traded below US$80 a barrel after losing 2.5 per cent last week. Algorithmic trading amplified declines following OPEC+’s decision to restore supply from the third quarter. Speculators last week posted the biggest pullback in net-bullish bets for the global benchmark on record.

Traders will be watching for monthly reports from OPEC and the International Energy Agency, due Tuesday and Wednesday, that will shed light on the outlook for the rest of the year after the producer group’s most recent moves. The Fed also releases its decision on interest rates mid-week.

Strong economic data and stubbornly high inflation have seen the market pare bets that it is nearing its much-anticipated pivot to lower borrowing costs.

Crude has dropped since early April on a weakening physical market and fading geopolitical risk premium. After OPEC+’s announcement of a rollback in output cuts caused prices to slump, officials emphasized that the supply increase had always been provisional and could be paused.

“We expect that healthy consumers and solid summer demand for transportation and cooling will push the market in a sizable Q3 deficit,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts including Daan Struyven wrote in a note. “We stick to our $75-$90 range for Brent oil prices.”

Elsewhere, Iraq said it expects to soon reach a final agreement with the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan and international oil companies there to restart oil exports that have been disrupted for more than a year.

Prices:

• Brent for August settlement gained 0.1% to $79.72 a barrel at 10:20 a.m. in London.
• WTI for July delivery was stable at $75.56 a barrel.