Crude oil futures are soaring to kick off the first full trading week of October as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, OPEC+ agreed to keep their plan for a gradual increase in production. The world’s largest energy producers rejected pleas for raising output, allowing commodity prices to spike. Is $80 next for US crude?

November West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures advanced $2.22, or 2.93%, to $78.10 per barrel at 14:56 GMT on Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. US crude is coming off a weekly gain of 3% and a monthly push of about 10%. Year-to-date, prices are up 62%.

Brent, the international benchmark for oil prices, is touching $82. December Brent crude futures surged $2.58, or 3.25%, to $81.86 per barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. Brent is up 59% so far this year.

At its latest policy meeting, OPEC+ agreed to stick to its current agreement to boost crude output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November. In a statement issued online, OPEC+ ministers “reconfirmed the production adjustment plan,” noting that “we are scared of the fourth wave of corona, no one wants to make any big movies.”

Under the existing pact, OPEC+ would increase production by 400,000 bpd a month until April 2022 to eliminate the 5.8 million bpd of existing production cuts.

Because of skyrocketing inflation levels, many countries and consumer groups have urged OPEC and its allies to add more supply to the global market. This past summer, President Joe Biden and his administration requested OPEC to ramp up production to help lower red-hot inflation rates.

It was recently revealed that Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia to discuss the war in Yemen and oil.

Looking forward, the Delta variant and winter weather could likely be the next major developments in the energy markets. Natural gas, for example, has been roaring on expectations of a colder-than-normal winter, allowing prices to extend their gains on Monday and flirt with $6.

In other energy commodities, November gasoline futures rallied $0.058, or 2.58%, to $2.3087 per gallon. November heating oil futures jumped $0.0662, or 2.78%, to $2.4482 a gallon.