Oil prices are rising again after the announcement of cuts by OPEC-Corriere.it

Oil prices are rising again. In the Asian market on the morning of Monday April 3, they are up almost 6% after that major OPEC+ producers, led by Saudi Arabia, announced a surprise cut of more than one million barrels per day. The West Texas Intermediate contract jumped 5.74% to $80.01 a barrel, while Brent crude jumped 5.67% to $84.42.

The cuts country by country

The news of the cut in oil production starting in May and for the whole of 2023 came a few minutes after that of the half-million-barrel cut that will be carried out by Saudi Arabia. In detail then, the United Arab Emirates will reduce production by 144,000 barrels, Kuwait by 128,000. Iraq alone will contribute with a cut of 211 thousand barrels, Kazakhstan 78 thousand, Algeria 48 thousand barrels per day and Oman 40 thousand barrels. For its part, Russia will extend the cut in production, still of 500,000 barrels per day, which it had already forecast and communicated, from March to June, for the whole of 2023.

A surprise move

The organization’s initiative comes unexpectedly after the latest statements on the intention to keep production stable. The cartel’s next official appointment is scheduled for June but, on the other hand, the reserve group has the opportunity to meet at any time and make decisions. Announcing the cut by half a million barrels, the Saudi Energy Minister underlined that it is a precautionary measure to safeguard the stability of the oil market. Crude oil prices fell sharply in March on fears of banking crises with futures in London, he recalls Bloomberg, had hit a 15-month low, close to $70. The drop in prices had led to hypothesize a move by Saudi Arabia which then seemed to have reversed, thanks to the recovery of the market in the first days of April which reached almost 80 dollars a barrel. But in the end, OPEC decided to cut production anyway