Oil prices decrease slightly Tuesday morning due to concern as to whether a deal that intends to raise the US debt ceiling is voted through along with mixed signals from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+.

A barrel of European reference oil Brent trades for USD 76.47 Tuesday morning against USD 76.58 Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, US counterpart West Texas Intermediate goes for USD 72.26 per barrel, down from USD 72.30 Friday.

Monday, several members of the Republican Party signaled a potential wish to fight a deal that seeks to raise the US debt ceiling.

US President Joe Biden and the current speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican member Kevin McCarthy, both remain optimistic, though, and expect the deal to go through.

”[The] contradictory statements from Republicans and lawmakers are keeping investors largely invested in the stand-off,” says Priyanka Sachdeva, market analyst from Phillip Nova, as cited by Reuters.

At the same time, the market is impacted by increasing concern ahead of the June 4 meeting in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, where members will discuss whether to make further production cuts in relation to the latest drop in oil prices.

Concerns are primarily anchored in contradicting statements from Russia and Saudi Arabia.