Oil prices rise as Saudi Arabia sees Opec “cooperation” continuing beyond 2018
Saudi Arabia has said cooperation between the cartel and its partners that are working to curb production will continue beyond 2018.
Saudi Arabia is the de facto leader of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which in November agreed to extend oil production cuts with Russia and other non-Opec producers until the end of this year.
Under the deal, which was originally agreed in 2016, producers are cutting production by about 1.8m barrels per day (bpd) to bolster oil prices by clearing the global supply glut.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said: “There is a readiness to continue cooperation beyond 2018… The mechanism hasn’t been determined yet, but there is a consensus to continue.”
The production cuts are still set to expire at the end of 2018.
Oil prices were up slightly at the time of writing. Brent crude oil was trading 0.28 per cent up at $68.80 a barrel while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 0.21 per cent at $63.50 a barrel.