Saudi Arabia said Monday that it would extend a cut in oil production of 1 million barrels a day that it announced in June through at least August, trying to push up what officials view as stubbornly weak oil prices. The Saudis were joined by Russia, whose deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said that Moscow would cut supplies by 500,000 barrels in August.
Together, these trims could amount to 1.5 per cent of global supplies.
Oil prices have been under pressure in recent months because of uncertainty about the strength of the global economy as many central banks continue to raise interest rates to stem inflation. There are also doubts about oil’s longer-term future as electric vehicles and other alternatives to consuming oil continue to grow.
