Offshore staff
VIENNA – After falling for weeks, oil prices surged on Thursday on reports of a potential deal between Middle Eastern nations and Russia to cut production in the coming months.
According to UPI, the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC-Plus held a meeting that included Russian officials late Thursday morning, during which they discussed an agreement to reduce oil production by 20 million barrels per day.
The deal would last for three months starting in May, during which Saudi Arabia would cut production by 3 MMbbls, Russia by 1.5 MMbbls, and other OPEC nations by 5.5 MMbbls. The price of Brent crude increased by more than 1.5% Thursday and West Texas Intermediate climbed by 12%.
"OPEC-Plus is trying mightily to cobble together a sizable production cut, and they are in full spin mode to try and rally prices," John Kilduff, of Again Capital, was quoted to say. "The math on a 10 million barrel per day cutback, which is the minimum necessary to stabilize the situation, is almost impossible to compute."
Saudi Arabia and Russia for weeks have been unable to agree on cuts to production amid coronavirus pandemic, which has significantly reduced demand for oil.
04/09/2020
