Crude oil futures largely held steady July 2 amid optimism that the OPEC+ group would agree to smaller production hikes below market expectations through the end of 2021, although oil prices settled for the day before a final agreement could be achieved. Most of the holdup focused on the United Arab Emirates arguing it should have a higher baseline production number, and opposing the cartel’s wishes to extend the production cuts agreement beyond the end of 2021. However, OPEC+ could still agree to increase its total output by an average of just 400,000 b/d a month starting in August, which is below the previous market prognostications, and extend the agreement […]