The price of crude oil rose more than 2% to $80 U.S. a barrel after Russia announced plans to reduce its oil production in March of this year.
The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, the U.S. standard, increased 2.57% to $80.07 U.S. a barrel.
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, also rose 2.57% to reach $86.67 U.S. a barrel in international trading.
Both WTI and Brent crude oil are on pace for weekly gains of nearly 10%.
The latest jump in prices comes after the Russian government said that it plans to reduce its crude oil production in March by 500,000 barrels per day, or about 5% of output.
The Russian production cuts come after western allies imposed price caps on the country's oil as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.
The G7 economies, the European Union (EU), and Australia agreed to ban Russian oil priced above $60 U.S. a barrel as of December 5 last year as part of sanctions imposed on Russia's economy.
The EU also banned purchases of Russian oil products and set price caps beginning on February 5 of this year.
Prior to this week’s move higher, crude oil prices had slumped to start the year. The price of WTI fell as low as $73 U.S. a barrel on growing fears of a U.S. recession and weak demand in China.
The latest U.S. oil inventory data released earlier this week showed that crude oil stockpiles climbed to their highest level since June 2021.
