Oil prices rise after Saudi production cut announcement

Oil prices were on the rise on Monday following Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it would cut its oil output by one million barrels a day in July.

The price of a barrel (159 litres) of North Sea Brent for delivery in August stood at 77.03 dollars on Monday morning, 90 cents more than on Friday.

The price of a barrel of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July delivery rose by 92 cents to 72.66 dollars.

Prices had risen even more significantly at times overnight.

Following a meeting of the oil cartel OPEC+ on Sunday, Saudi Arabia announced the cut following hours of negotiations.

The measure, which Riyadh said could be extended beyond July, comes as oil prices are on decline due to a weakened global economy.

Apart from a brief increase in April, the oil price has been falling for about a year: In mid-2022, a barrel of OPEC oil cost around 115 dollars.

As early as October 2022, the alliance with a global market share of about 40 per cent decided to cut production by two million barrels a day.

In contrast to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries, however, the United Arab Emirates could raise its production to some extent in the coming year.