Baghdad: Oil prices recorded a decline of more than 2% at the close of trading on Wednesday, ahead of the OPEC+ meeting scheduled for early next week, where members are expected to discuss a potential new increase in production targets starting in October.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Brent crude fell by $1.54, or 2.23%, settling at $67.60 a barrel. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped by $1.62, or 2.47%, to close at $63.97 a barrel.

Any forthcoming increase in production would pave the way for the coalition to wind down the second tranche of output cuts-amounting to about 1.65 million barrels per day, or 1.6% of global demand-more than a year ahead of the planned schedule.

OPEC+ had already agreed to raise its production targets by 2.2 million barrels per day between April and September, in addition to granting the UAE an extra 300,000 barrels per day.

In parallel, data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that job openings-a key indicator of labor market demand-fel
l more than expected in July, dropping to 7.181 million.