Oil prices rise as Saudis cut production

Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a significant production cut pushed up oil prices early in the week. On Monday morning, a barrel (159 litres) of North Sea Brent for August delivery cost $77.03.

That was 90 cents more than on Friday. The price of a barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) quality for July delivery rose 92 cents to $72.66. During the night, prices sometimes increased even more.

After a turbulent OPEC meeting, oil giant Saudi Arabia on Sunday announced a unilateral production cut of one million barrels a day, initially for July. The country actually leads the twenty states of the oil cartel OPEC + together with Russia.

Unlike Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries, the United Arab Emirates could also slightly increase their production in the coming year.

The start of the meeting was delayed for several hours as there were reportedly discussions over funding quotas for African OPEC members. The OPEC countries had already throttled their production last year. In April, some OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, subsequently extended cuts to the surprise of many experts. The background to this is that oil prices are on a downward trend due to the weakening global economy. (sda/awp/dpa)