Oil prices notch biggest gain in nearly a year after OPEC’s surprise output cut

Oil prices notched their biggest gain in nearly a year after OPEC+ announced it was slashing output by 1.16 million barrels per day.

Brent crude futures settled higher by 6.31%, at $84.93 a barrel. The commodity had its best daily performance since March 21, 2022, when it gained 7.12%. West Texas Intermediate crude settled higher by 6.28%, at $80.42 a barrel. It was the biggest daily gain for WTI since April 12, 2022, when it rose 6.69%.

A “precautionary measure”

The voluntary cuts will begin in May and run until the end of 2023, Saudi Arabia announced, saying it was a “precautionary measure” targeted toward stabilizing the oil market.

The move comes on the back of Russia’s decision to trim oil production by 500,000 barrels per day until the end of 2023, according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

In addition to Saudi Arabia’s output cut of 500,000 barrels per day, other member states have also pledged cuts: the UAE will be cutting output by 144,000 barrels per day, while Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Algeria and Kazakhstan will also be reducing output.

“The selected involvement of the largest OPEC+ members suggest that adherence to production cuts may be stronger than has been the case in the past,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Vivek Dhar said in a note.

Oil at $100 per barrel?

“OPEC+‘s plan for a further production cut may push oil prices toward the $100 mark again, considering China’s reopening and Russia’s output cuts as a retaliation move against western sanctions,” CMC Markets’ analyst Tina Teng told CNBC.

Teng noted, however, that the cut could also reverse the decline in inflation, which would “complicate central banks’ rate decisions.”

In March, oil prices tumbled to their lowest since December 2021, as traders feared the banking rout could dent global economic growth.

The oil cartel and its allies are looking to avoid a repeat of the 2008 crash, one analyst said.

“They’re looking into the second half of this year and deciding they don’t want to relive 2008,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, citing oil prices crashing from $140 to $35 in six months in that year.

McNally added that while it’s not his base case, oil prices could “make a dash for $100 … if Chinese demand goes back to 16 million barrels a day second half of this year [and] if Russian supply starts to go off because of sanctions and so forth,”

Cuts

“Then these cuts, if they stick with them, are going to super tighten the market,” he said.

About E. J. McKay

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