The OPEC+ cartel’s milestone decision to cut production has seen prices rise on Monday, bringing temporary relief to the oil markets that were severely hit in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.
As of Monday morning, Brent crude futures rose to roughly $33 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) advanced to $24.15 a barrel, after hitting a high of $24.74, Bloomberg and Reuters report.
Oil prices have been in nosedive since the middle of February after de facto OPEC head Saudi Arabia flooded global markets with its own crude. The process was also triggered by falling demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.
OPEC and its allies had been trying to reach an accord on cutting production for several days in a row. On Sunday, major global oil producers finally agreed to slash oil output by 9.7 million barrels per day for May and June, in what could be seen as one of the biggest supply cuts in history.
Countries outside the alliance will be also expected to support the cuts, bringing the overall reduction to 20 million barrels a day, according to Kuwaiti Oil Minister Khaled Al-Fadhel. Canada and Norway have signaled their interest in curbing oil extraction too, while the US said its output would fall with the prices.
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