The price of oil rises sharply: Saudi Arabia announces a reduction in production. © Mohssen Assanimoghaddam / dpa
Saudi Arabia is significantly reducing its oil production. This was announced by the oil giant at a turbulent meeting of the oil cartel Opec. The announcement sent the price of oil soaring worldwide.
SINGAPORE – The announcement of a significant production cut by Saudi Arabia drove oil prices at the beginning of the week. On Monday morning, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent crude for delivery in August cost $77.03. That was 90 cents more than on Friday. The price of a barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for delivery in July rose by 92 cents to $72.66. During the night, prices had risen even more significantly at times.
Saudi Arabia: Unilateral cut in oil production
After a turbulent OPEC meeting, oil giant Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday a unilateral cut in its production by one million barrels per day, initially for July. The country effectively leads the twenty or so states of the OPEC+ oil cartel together with Russia.
In contrast to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries, the United Arab Emirates could also increase its production somewhat in the coming year.
Chaotic meeting: Discussions about African OPEC members
The start of the meeting had been delayed by several hours because there were allegedly discussions about the production quotas of African OPEC members. The OPEC countries had already cut their production last year. In April, some OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, extended the cuts, to the surprise of many experts. The background to this is that oil prices are falling in line with the trend due to the weakening global economy. (dpa, lf)