Oil prices today: Brent, MCX crude pare gains on economic headwinds even as traders weigh supply cuts

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₹5,863 per bbl, having swung between ₹5,795 and ₹5,895 per bbl during the session so far, compared to their previous close of ₹5,850 per bbl. Also Read: Asia refiner expects Saudi Arabia to cut August crude prices -Brent has dropped from $113 per barrel a year ago, sent lower on concerns of sluggish economic growth. However, both Saudi and Russia have been trying to raise oil prices with new output cuts.

-Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer announced on Monday that it would extend its voluntary output cut of 1 million bpd to August. Russia and Algeria, meanwhile, are lowering their August output and export levels by 500,000 bpd and 20,000 bpd respectively. -Russia-Saudi oil cooperation is still going strong as part of the OPEC alliance, which will do "whatever necessary" to support the market, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said earlier today.

-Separately, Kazakhstan oil output on July 4 plunged by about a fifth from July 2 levels after widespread power outages. Kazakh crude accounts for about 1.7 per cent of global oil production. -Traders are also on alert for the release of official selling prices from Saudi Aramco, including for its flagship Arab Light grade.

The Saudi pricing patterns are often matched by neighboring producers and can be pivotal in influencing physical demand from different regions. -Market attention is also focused on interest rates, with US and European central banks expected to increase rates further to address stubbornly high inflation. The Federal Open Market Commitee (FOMC) will release the minutes of its June meeting later today, which will provide a sense of further US rate hikes.