Oil prices surged on Monday and US officials voiced their displeasure a day after OPEC members announced substantial cuts in production, a move that reaffirmed Saudi Arabia, the group’s leader, as a headstrong giant in the oil market.
Traders bid up crude prices after the news of cuts totaling more than 1.1 million barrels a day, or 1 per cent of global production, beginning next month. Brent crude, the international bench mark, rose about 6 per cent, to about $84.50 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US standard, was up by a similar amount, trading over $80 a barrel.
Sunday’s surprise announcement signaled a potential new threat to global efforts to curb inflation and a challenge to the Biden administration, which has pushed for lower gasoline prices.
