London May 1 2025: Oil rebounded on Thursday after strong earnings from Meta and Microsoft supported U.S. equities and offset concerns about the U.S. economy and the prospect of higher OPEC+ oil output.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 47 cents or 0.8% to $58.68 a barrel by 1442 GMT. Brent crude futures gained 71 cents or 1.2% to $61.77. Both contracts fell over 1% earlier.
“It (oil’s rebound) can be attributed to the jump in equities due to attractive earnings from Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Meta (META.O) and possibly the postponement of the next round of the U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.
Oman said on Thursday that the next round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks provisionally planned for Saturday, May 3 would be rescheduled for logistical reasons.
Earlier, concern about higher supply weighed on prices. Saudi Arabia is telling allies and industry experts that it is unwilling to prop up the oil market with supply cuts and can manage a prolonged period of low prices, sources told Reuters.
Several OPEC+ members will suggest the group accelerates output hikes in June for a second consecutive month, three people familiar with OPEC+ talks have said. Eight OPEC+ countries will meet on May 5 to decide a June output plan.
