Oil trades near $42 after OPEC+ extends crude production cuts
Oil traded near $42 a barrel in London after OPEC and its allies agreed to extend historic output curbs by an extra month, promising stricter compliance to ensure members don’t pump more than they pledged.
Brent futures dropped 0.3%, erasing earlier gains of almost 3% following a sixth weekly increase on Friday. The extension is a victory for Saudi Arabia and Russia, which were deadlocked in a brutal price war just two months ago. The de-facto leaders of OPEC+ showed their commitment to shore up oil markets globally over the weekend, and even cajoled Iraq, Nigeria and other laggards to fulfill their promises to reduce production.
“Crude had mostly priced in the one-month extension of deeper cuts by Friday,” said Vandana Hari, founder of energy consultancy Vanda Insights in Singapore.
