Earlier this week, one delegate said the group would discuss whether to fast-track its latest round of supply hikes in three monthly instalments of about 500,000 barrels a day. Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images/Postmedia files

Ever since OPEC+ started ramping up supplies in April, the group has drawn reassurance from one key oil indicator: the price curve . As it prepares to meet this weekend, that gauge is faltering.

OPEC officials pay close attention to the premium that Brent crude futures for more immediate supply command over later contracts. The positive spread — known as backwardation — has held up for months, even as Saudi Arabia and its allies fast-tracked the return of 2.2 million barrels a day. It means traders saw the oil market as tight.

But as the Org

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