Oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel in early Asian trade on Monday, hours after the world’s top exporter Saudi Arabia pledged to cut production by another 1 million barrels per day from July.
Brent crude futures was at $78.42 a barrel, up $2.29, or 3 per cent, at 2219 GMT after earlier hitting a session-high of $78.73 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $2.27 a barrel, up 3.2 per cent, or $74.01 a barrel, after touching an intraday high of $75.06 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia’s output would drop to 9 million barrels per day (bpd) in July from around 10 million bpd in May, the biggest reduction in years, its energy ministry said in a statement.
