Oil up with tentative US deal to raise debt ceiling

ANKARA

Oil prices increased on Monday after US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated a debt ceiling agreement over the weekend.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $77.47 per barrel at 8.55 a.m. local time (0555GMT), a 0.64% rise from the closing price of $76.98 a barrel in the previous trading session on Friday.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at the same time at $73.19 per barrel, up 0.72% from the previous session's close of $72.67 per barrel.

Biden and McCarthy announced an "agreement in principle" late Saturday to raise the debt limit and avoid a "catastrophic default."

On Sunday, the US president urged Congress to pass a bipartisan agreement he reached with McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling. A vote is expected in the House on Wednesday.

The debt limit was hit in January, but the Treasury Department has taken steps to ensure that the US continues to pay its bills.

The declining value of the dollar also aided the increase in dollar-indexed oil prices.

The US dollar index, which measures the value of the American dollar against a basket of currencies, including the Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc, declined 0.09% to 104.11 early Monday.

Alexander Novak, the deputy prime minister of Russia, also stated in a speech last week that OPEC+ output cuts and a rise in summer demand may push the price of Brent crude to just over $80 per barrel by the end of the year.

Investors anticipate that OPEC+ producers will decide to reduce output once more when they meet on June 4.