Oil prices jump after OPEC Plus agreed to settle supplies

Brent crude rose 2.1% to $ 49.75 a barrel.

■ archive

Oil prices jumped yesterday, by about 2%, and is heading towards achieving gains for the fifth week, as major producers agreed to settle for continuing some production cuts to meet the demand affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, although the decision came below expectations.

The international benchmark Brent rose $ 1.04, or 2.1%, to $ 49.75 a barrel, after it gained about 1% the day before yesterday.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 84 cents, or 1.8%, to 46.48 dollars a barrel.

The day before yesterday, OPEC and Russia agreed to reduce big cuts in oil production, starting in January, by 500 thousand barrels per day, but they failed to reach a settlement regarding a broader policy for the remainder of the year.

Goldman Sachs said in a report after the decision: “(OPEC Plus) removes the obstacle to exit from its current cuts in a coordinated manner, which reinforces our conviction of a steady and sustainable rise in oil prices during 2021.”

The increase means that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, a group known as (OPEC Plus), are heading to reduce production by 7.2 million barrels per day, or 7% of global demand, as of January, compared to current cuts of 7.7 million barrels per day.

OPEC Plus is expected to continue the current cuts until at least March, after it abandoned plans to increase production by 2 million barrels per day.

Prices also received support from a $ 908 billion aid plan to mitigate the repercussions of the Corona virus, which has the support of the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States, and which gained momentum in the US Congress.

West Texas crude rose 1.8% to $ 46.48 a barrel.

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news