Mubasher: Although oil prices remain elevated above the level of $70 a barrel, it has receded from multi-year high levels on speculations that Saudi Arabia and Russia may raise output by as much as 1 million barrels per day.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are expected to lead efforts to reduce the limits of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)-led output agreement, in order to fill the output gap created by a decline in oil production in Venezuela and the proposed sanctions on Iran.

However, although the production rate did witness a surge by the aforementioned producers, the increase was not large enough as was being speculated by the market resulting in a pause in oil price decline, according to a recent report by KAMCO Investment Research.

The next meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC ministers is due to be held in Vienna on 22 and 23 June, where a final decision regarding the supply reduction deal, in which crude production was trimmed by about 1.8 million bpd until the end of 2018 would be taken.