HONG KONG (AP) — Oil prices fell after the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations said it plans to boost output.
U.S. benchmark crude oil fell as much as 4% early in the day. By late Monday in Asia it had shed $1.15 or 2% to $57.14 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $1.14 to $60.15 per barrel.
During the weekend, the OPEC+ group of eight nations announced it will raise its output by 411,000 barrels per day as of June 1, stepping up production increases.
The group said strong fundamentals were behind the decision, though analysts also speculated that it might reflect a desire to curry favor with U.S. President Donald Trump before he makes a visit to the Middle East later this month.
Prices have fallen nearly 20% in the past three months as traders have factored in the likely impact of Trump's trade policies on the global economy. Trump has made delivering lower gas prices one of his talking points.
“Washington wants cheap energy, and Gulf producers still lean on U.S. security guarantees; the White House bears down, they listen,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
“In that sense the U.S. president has become an unofficial swing vote inside OPEC+,” he said.
U.S. crude oil is down about 17% for the year. According to AAA, gasoline is selling for an average of about $3.17 per gallon, down from $3.66 per gallon a year ago.
But prices are falling to a point where many producers can no longer turn a profit.