NNA - Oil prices fell to a four-month low on Tuesday, continuing a decline after OPEC+ signaled it will begin tapering its production cuts later this year. Weak economic data also raised concerns about sluggish demand.

Brent oil futures for August delivery fell 0.4 percent to $78.05 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.4 percent to $73.80 per barrel by 21:03 ET (01:03 GMT). Both contracts had dropped around 3.3 percent on Monday, reaching their lowest levels since early February.

OPEC+ decided in a weekend meeting to maintain 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of production cuts until the end of this year. However, the group will begin scaling back 2.2 million bpd of those cuts from the end of September 2024 through October 2025.

This tapering plan was seen as a bearish signal for the market, especially if demand does not materialize as OPEC+ has forecast for the coming year. It also indicated that the producer group has limited room to continue supporting oil prices.--agencies 

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