Crude oil tumbles on report that OPEC-plus could hike production

CALGARY – Crude oil prices slumped to a 10-month low Monday on a report that OPEC plus may hike output at its next meeting.

The benchmark West Texas Intermediate is down US$5 as of late morning, trading around US$75.43.

That’s about US$10 lower than the price of oil at the beginning of last week, and US$35 lower than the June peak, when oil hit US$110 per barrel.

Experts say the drop in oil prices Monday is due to a report by the Wall Street Journal that says Saudi Arabia and other OPEC-plus countries may increase oil output by up to 500,000 barrels per day.