Amid concerns that higher energy prices could slow the global economy, the OPEC + group agreed to increase oil production by 648 bpd in July and by a similar amount in August, surpassing previous monthly increases agreed among group members of 432 bpd. The group's next meeting is scheduled for June 30.

The group of 23 countries, including Russia, has been adding 432,000 barrels per day steadily each month, under a road map to gradually restore production cuts imposed in the midst of the 2020 pandemic recession.

Higher oil and gas prices contributed to inflation in the United States and Europe and drained consumers' purchasing power, with U.S. oil prices falling 2.8% before the meeting.

In the European Union's strongest sanctions against Moscow to date since the Ukrainian crisis, the Union's leaders had agreed in principle to gradually reduce Russian oil imports by 75% at present, and by the end of this year by 90%

But experts question the ability to access these ratios of Russian oil abandonment, given the current difficulty of alternative options.

In China, a strict lockdown aimed at containing the COVID-19 virus ended in Shanghai after two months, leading to expectations of increased fuel demand