Oil prices Wednesday scaled new highs not seen since last February after Saudi Arabia agreed to reduce output more than expected in a meeting with allied producers, while industry figures showed U.S. crude stockpiles were down last week.
Brent crude rose as much as nearly 1% to $54.09 U.S. a barrel, the highest since Feb. 26, 2020. It last traded 41 cents, or 0.76%, higher at $54.01 U.S. per barrel, after jumping 4.9% on Tuesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures reached $50.24 U.S. a barrel, also the highest since Feb. 26, before giving back some of those gains. WTI last traded 25 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $50.18 U.S. per barrel. The contract on Tuesday closed up 4.6%.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, agreed on Tuesday to make additional, voluntary oil output cuts of one million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March, after a meeting with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers that form the group known as OPEC+.
The reductions agreed by Saudi Arabia were included in a deal to persuade other producers in the OPEC+ group to hold output steady.
With coronavirus infections spreading rapidly in many parts of the world producers are trying to support prices as demand takes a hit from new lockdowns being put in place.
