Oil prices hit from highs last seen in October 2018 on Monday as investors eye the outcome of this week’s OPEC+ as the United States and Iran argument over the revival of a nuclear deal, holding a surge in Iranian oil exports. Brent crude for August had decreased 16 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $76.02 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude for August was at $73.93 a barrel, down 12 cents, or 0.2 per cent.

Oil prices rose for a fifth week as fuel demand recover on strong economic growth and increased travel during summer in the northern hemisphere. At the same time, global crude supplies stayed warm as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies maintained production cuts.

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The producer group is returning 2.1 million barrels per day to the market from May through July as part of a plan to unwind last year’s record oil output curbs gradually. “Demand recovery has caught everyone by surprise, and OPEC needs to respond,” Howie Lee, an economist at Singapore’s OCBC bank, said. “There is some leeway for easing supply curbs given how high prices are, and we might see a 250,000 BPD increase from August,” he added.