Crude oil futures ended lower on Tuesday amid uncertainty about the major oil producers' possible take on their production policy. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) were originally scheduled to decide on increasing crude production last Thursday. However, the meeting got postponed to the following day, and was subsequently abandoned due to disagreement between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over output hike. The United Arab Emirates agreed to go along with output increases but rejected a separate proposal to extend curbs to end-2022. No date has been set as yet for resumption of talks but Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said he hoped that within 10 days a date would be set for a new OPEC+ meeting.
Crude oil futures for August fell $1.79 or about 2.4 percent to settle at $73.37 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September Brent crude dropped $2.63 or 3.4 percent to settle at $74.52 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.