The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia (known as OPEC+) met on Thursday, deciding to hold production output largely steady. The group will boost output by 432,000 barrels per day beginning May 1.

International benchmark Brent crude futures for May fell 4% to trade at $108.89 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slid 4.7% to $102.84. Earlier in the session the contract traded as low as $100.16.

For West Texas Intermediate, futures for May dropped %5.6 to trade at $102.15 per barrel.

Both market benchmarks were on track for the first month of their biggest quarterly percentage gains since the second quarter of 2020, but both announced decisions slowed that pace.

According to analysts, the US decision to release part of its strategic reserves is significant for the market because it is a considerable volume in a lengthy period, which would end shortage in the second quarter, and there would even be enough inventories for the third.

mh/pll/jha/crc