Oil extends gains, touching highest level in 4 months

Oil prices continued their gains today, Monday, to touch their highest levels since mid-April, after Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to continue to cut supplies for another month, with the aim of continuing to balance global markets and support prices.

According to “Reuters”, Brent crude futures increased 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $86.49 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 23 cents, or %, to $83.05 a barrel.

The two benchmarks recorded gains for the sixth consecutive week last week, which is the longest period of gains since December 2021 and January 2022.

Prices have received support thanks to several factors in the past few weeks, including expectations of a reduction in the pace of US interest rate hikes, a reduction in OPEC + supplies, and hopes to stimulate a recovery in oil demand in China, the largest importer of crude in the world, after a slump in the second quarter.

Last Thursday, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, extended its voluntary production cuts by one million barrels per day until the end of September, and indicated that it might extend them again or increase the amount of the reduction. The Kingdom’s production in September will be about 9 million barrels per day, and it has also said that it will reduce oil exports by 300,000 barrels per day in September.