Oil moves up towards $50/bbl after OPEC+ supply compromise
Brent crude oil futures rose to just under $50 a barrel on Friday as major producers agreed on a compromise to increase output slightly from January but continue the bulk of existing supply curbs to cope with coronavirus-hit demand.
Brent was up 53 cents at $49.24 a barrel by 1034 GMT after hitting its highest since early March at $49.92. West Texas Intermediate rose 47 cents to $46.11 a barrel. Both benchmarks are set for a fifth straight week of gains.
OPEC and Russia on Thursday agreed to ease deep oil output cuts from January by 500,000 barrels per day with further as yet undefined increases on a monthly basis, failing to reach a compromise on a broader policy for the rest of 2021.
OPEC+ had been expected to continue existing cuts until at least March, after backing down from plans to raise output by 2 million bpd.
The increase means the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, a group known as OPEC+, are set to reduce production by 7.2 million bpd, or 7% of global demand from January, compared with current cuts of 7.7 million bpd.
The deal will ensure declining crude inventories through the first quarter, said SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop.
