Oil inches lower as traders return from 3-day weekend

Oil ticked slightly lower early Monday as investors returned from a three-day Easter weekend. Crude surged in holiday-shortened trading last week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies announced an unexpected round of production cuts. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery slipped 6 cents to $80.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude the global benchmark, was up down 7 cents at $85.07 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. WTI and Brent each jumped by more than 6% last week, the third straight weekly rise for both grades. Last week’s rally followed the April 2 announcement by Saudi Arabia and OPEC allies of plans to cut output by a collective 1.15 million barrels a day beginning in May through the end of 2023, with Russia pledging to extend a cut of 500,000 barrels a day through year-end.

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