Oil heads for sixth weekly gains, amid pledges to cut ‎production

Oil prices rose for the second day in a row today, Friday, and are heading for weekly gains for the sixth time in a row, after Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to cut production until the end of next month.

According to Reuters, Brent crude futures for October delivery rose 30 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $85.44 a barrel by 0042 GMT.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery increased 36 cents, or 0.4%, to $81.90 a barrel.

Yesterday, Thursday, Brent recovered its losses, which amounted to 2% in the Wednesday session, which makes futures contracts on their way to achieving a weekly increase of 0.4%, while WTI is expected to end the week, up 1.4%, after the decline in US crude oil inventories by the largest amount ever. on wednesday.

The two benchmarks are heading for gains for the sixth week in a row, their longest streak of gains this year

Saudi Arabia said in a statement on Thursday that it would extend a voluntary oil production cut of 1 million barrels per day for another month in September. The announcement came the day before a scheduled meeting of ministers of the OPEC+ alliance, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia.

Sources ruled out that the joint ministerial follow-up committee of the OPEC + alliance would make any amendments to the general oil production policy during its meeting today, Friday. However, Saudi Arabia’s pledge, in addition to statements by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, in which he said that Russia will reduce its oil exports by 300 thousand barrels per day in September, raised concerns about supplies and supported prices.

The OPEC+ alliance agreed to a general deal to limit supplies until 2024 at its meeting on production policy in June, at the same time Saudi Arabia voluntarily pledged to cut production further in July and then extended the cuts in August.

After the kingdom’s decision, John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, said that the United States will continue to work with producers and consumers to ensure that the energy market supports growth.

The United States is the largest producer of crude oil in the world, while Saudi Arabia and Russia occupy the second and third places.